The Crow: Black Robin
by Rider Paladin
Summary: A possible future following the events of Apprentice. After sacrificing his own life to save Starfire, Robin is granted a second chance by a mystical crow. A chance to set things right.
1. Shadowed Renaissance

"The Crow: Black Robin"

Chapter 1: "Shadowed Renaissance"

Disclaimer: The Crow belongs to James O'Barr. Teen Titans belongs to DC Comics and Warner Brothers.

Author's note: Since the previous summer when I watched the first Crow, I have become hopelessly enamored of it. I've also watched City of Angels and Salvation, and in my honest opinion, they're not as bad as so many people say. The point is that there were so many possible places "Apprentice" could have gone. I've decided to step away from the norm of "Apprentice"-spawned Robin/Slade slash and do something original. I hope you like it.

_"I think your little Robin's turned into a bitter old crow."_ – Terry McGinnis, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker

"Those things are inside me?" Beast Boy asked after seeing the probes that Slade had surreptitiously implanted him and three of the other Titans with.

"Slade could kill us anytime he wants," Raven said. "Unless Robin does exactly as he says."

_So that is why,_ Starfire thought. _I should have known._

Inside Slade's lair, Robin and Slade clashed furiously. As quick and agile and strong as Robin was, Slade was proving to be even stronger and faster.

"Robin, Robin," Slade said in mock-pitying tones. "If the Titans are such a distraction to you, then perhaps I should kill them." He held up the trigger for the probes.

Robin's demeanor suddenly changed. His mouth, previously set in angry determination, parted with terror. His shoulders slumped.

"Fine," he conceded. "I'll do whatever you want."

He had no choice. If he didn't, Slade would kill his friends. He would kill Starfire.

Suddenly, a starbolt pierced through the wall and punched Slade, knocking him down. He rose up on one knee and turned, looking to the source of the attack.

It was Starfire, eyes and hands glowing, the other three Titans with her.

"Do not touch him!" Starfire declared.

"How sweet," Slade sneered. "Look, Robin, your girlfriend has come to defend you from me. Touching."

Robin didn't bother correcting him. Instead he looked at the others. "What are you doing? He could kill you!"

"We know," Raven said.

"And we're not going anywhere," Beast Boy added.

"We're with you to the end, Robin," Cyborg said.

"We will always be by your side, no matter what," Starfire said.

Robin ripped Slade's emblem from the black-and-dull orange uniform Slade had given him.

"Fine," Slade said. "Be that way. I could kill you all now. But it'll be much more satisfying to finish you one by one --- starting with the red-haired one." He mounted a laser on his right arm and fired it right at Starfire, the intensity set high enough to kill.

Starfire should have been dead. But she wasn't.

Because Robin had lunged at her and shoved her out of the way, taking the shot through his own chest.

"Robin!" Starfire shouted. She flew to him and held him, propping his upper body up with her arms. "Robin?"

"Starfire . . ." Robin said, his voice weak. "I can't . . . I'm sorry . . ."

"Please, stay with me, Robin!" Starfire pleaded. "Oh, why did you do it?"

"I couldn't let him hurt you," Robin replied. "I love you too much."

"I love you, too, Robin," Starfire said.

Those were the last words Robin heard as he passed away from this world.

"ROBIN!!!" Starfire screamed.

_One year later_

"I'm so tired of being here 

Suppressed by all my childish fears

And if you have to leave

I wish that you would just leave

Because your presence still lingers here

And it won't leave me alone.

"These wounds won't seem to heal

This pain is just too real

There's just too much that time cannot erase

When you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tears

When you'd scream, I'd fight away all of your fears

I held your hand through all of these years

But you still have all of me.

"You used to captivate me by your resonating light

Now I'm bound by the life you left behind

Your face, it haunts my once pleasant dreams

Your voice chased away all the sanity in me.

"These wounds won't seem to heal

This pain is just too real

There's just too much that time cannot erase

When you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tears

When you'd scream, I'd fight away all of your fears

I held your hand through all of these years

But you still have all of me.

"I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone

But though you're still with me

I've been alone all along.

"These wounds won't seem to heal

This pain is just too real

There's just too much that time cannot erase

When you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tears

When you'd scream, I'd fight away all of your fears

I held your hand through all of these years

But you still have all of me."

Evanescence – "My Immortal"

Koriand'r, alias Kory Anders and Starfire, went to Tim Drake's, alias Robin's, grave with red and white roses. It had been a strangely lovely funeral, but then again, Robin deserved no less.

Robin. Even after knowing his real name, she still thought of him as Robin. Then again, he'd never let anyone know just who he was behind the mask.

The funeral had been beautiful, and those closest to Robin, other than the Teen Titans, had been there. Bruce Wayne, also known as Batman, was there; of course he was, he had mentored Robin and was like a father to him. Next, there had been Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce's butler and a sort of grandfather to Robin. Then there were two others who had worked beside Batman, who were like older siblings. First was Dick Grayson, the original Robin and now Nightwing, the defender of Bludhaven. The other was his lover Barbara Gordon, daughter of Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon and Batgirl, Gotham's dark angel.

"Hello, Robin," Starfire said. "I mean, Tim. It has been a while since I last spoke to you. I miss you so very much. I know you loved me, but I wish you could have told me before you died. I wish I could have told you that I love you before you died.

"It has not been very easy without you. Raven is even more solitary than before, and Cyborg and Beast Boy are more serious than they used to be. We have two new members. Superboy is the new leader of the Titans, but he cannot ever truly take your place. Wonder Girl is a member of the Titans now, and she is very nice. Superboy is nice too, but he is also arrogant and insensitive.

"Slade is still alive. He has become even more dangerous than before. He has united many of the major super-powered criminals under him to form a powerful crime syndicate. His crimes become worse and worse by the day, and there is apparently no limit to his evil. I am sorry to tell you this, as you would spend your eternity wishing you could come back and stop him. _I_ wish you could come back.

"Onto better things, I suppose. I have begun to establish a life on Earth. When I went out into the city, I was spotted by a 'talent agent.' He procured for me a job modeling clothes. I liked it very much, and decided to do it regularly. As enjoyable as it is, I would enjoy being with you far better." A tear slipped out of her eye and she placed the roses in front of Robin's grave. The tombstone read: "Tim Drake – 1987-2003. No better leader, no truer friend could we have asked for. Soar into heaven, our Robin."

"Good-bye, Robin," Starfire said and walked back inside.

Meanwhile, a boy dressed in a black-and-red costume with Superman's emblem on his chest, a black leather jacket over the suit, and fingerless red gloves watched. This boy was Superboy, a clone of Superman created by Cadmus Labs. However, the scientists found that it was nearly impossible to perfectly duplicate a Kryptonian. To that end, they attached as much of Superman's DNA as they could to that of a human donor, and thus Superboy was born. He didn't have many of Superman's powers, only being able to use a limited form of telekinesis that allowed him to mimic super-strength and flight. However, he could extend that power to manipulate objects, causing them to move or break.

"Sad," he said.

"I know," a blonde in a black top with Wonder Woman's emblem on the chest, white goggles on her head, silver bracelets, and star-studded red jeans said. "He was her first true love, and to die like that . . . yeah, it is sad."

"I meant how she pines for him," Superboy corrected. "Sometimes, I get the urge to just yell that her precious Robin isn't coming back so coming to his grave every week isn't going to make him come back."

"You said that once," the blonde replied. "She blasted you right through the wall for it. Then Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy tore into you for being such an insensitive jerk."

"I didn't mean to be so insensitive," Superboy said. "It's just that we can't live in the past. We have to deal with the present. And at present, Wonder Girl, that means dealing with Slade. His crimes are getting bolder and more extensive by the day. And we have no idea what he wants."

"You sound just like him," Beast Boy said.

"Like Robin?" Superboy asked.

"Yeah," Beast Boy confirmed. His shadowed green eyes stared into Superboy's blue ones. "I know he's not coming back, but I can't help missing him."

"We all miss him, Beast Boy," Raven said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I don't mean to sound corny," Cyborg said, "but wherever he is now, I feel he's watching over us."

"It's not corny, Cyborg," Wonder Girl said. "Sometimes, when you've got nothing but pain, you need something to give you hope."

Slade sat in his lair, his one visible eye narrowed in rage. If it hadn't been for those miserable Titans, Robin would still be alive today. He would have still been his. His to possess, his to mold into a successor. It was ruined now, though. All because of the Teen Titans.

That was why they had to pay. That was why they, and their precious city, had to suffer. That was why they all had to die.

It would be so easy, in a way. Their new leader Superboy was strong, but was cocky and overly sure of his abilities. That would lead to his downfall. Wonder Girl was strong as well, but too new to the job. She, too, would easily fall. Then he would slowly finish the rest of the Teen Titans, including Robin's alien paramour.

He looked up at his screen, to Jinx's face. "Are you ready yet, Jinx?"

"Ready, Slade," Jinx replied.

"Excellent," Slade said. "This will be a dangerous task, sabotaging the space center's computers. Are you sure you're up to the task?"

"Very sure," Jinx replied. "No one's better at bringing bad luck than me."

"Good," Slade said. Then he closed the video link.

Yes. Once the space center's computers were sabotaged, it would be easy to cannibalize their technology and use it to create a weapon that would make the Teen Titans pay. They would lose everything that they had worked so hard for just as they had made him lose everything he'd worked so hard for.

At Robin's grave, a crow flew down and landed on his tombstone. It pecked at the tombstone.

Immediately, the earth began to shift. It rolled, as if someone or something was trying to climb out. Finally, a hand burst out of the grave. A second hand joined the first hand, and then, a human figure pulled itself out of Robin's grave.

The figure raised its head, revealing the face of a teenage boy with pale violet-blue eyes, eyes that were wild with confusion. He stood and let out an agonized scream.

The boy began to walk, clad only in black burial clothes and his dark hair hanging in his eyes. He turned around and saw the tombstone.

"'Tim Drake – 1987-2003. No better leader, no truer friend could we have asked for. Soar into heaven, our Robin.'" He stared in confusion and disbelief. _What the hell is this?! I'm not dead!_

_Then why was I in that grave?_ he asked himself. He walked on the island that Titans Tower stood on. He walked to the door and placed his hand on the digital hand reader that opened it. Only a member of the Teen Titans could pass, a little something that had been created after a few too many break-ins.

"Identity confirmed," the computer said. "Welcome, Robin."

Robin walked into the T-shaped tower, the crow following him. Everything was dark, as everyone had probably gone to sleep. However, he could somehow see just as well in the dark as he could if it was noon or all the lights were on.

Raven awoke with a start. She had felt it. A restless soul, returned to this plane of existence by a terrible pain and an inexorable purpose. She even recognized that soul.

_Robin,_ she thought.

Robin walked upstairs, looking for someone who might be able to explain what had happened to him. Along the way, he passed the door to his room. He went inside, the moonlight illuminating the room.

He saw a picture of himself and the other four Titans. Cyborg had made bunny ears over Robin's head, and Beast Boy had changed himself into a cat and was nuzzling against Raven's leg. Raven herself had tried to fake her usual apathy, but couldn't resist cracking a small smile. Starfire had been right next to Robin, smiling her bright, irresistible smile.

Immediately, his mind was wracked by a flashback.

"_C'mon guys, we're not going to be able to take the picture if you keep fooling around!_" Robin had exclaimed.

"_This is utterly pointless,_" Raven had said.

"_You think everything's pointless,_" Beast Boy had said snidely.

"_Our image shall be captured forever on that camera!_" Starfire had exclaimed happily. "_What joy!_"

Cyborg had been busy playfully chasing Beast Boy. "_Yeah, Star! Joy to the Titans!"_

"_Let's just get this over with,_" Raven had said, bored.

Everyone had gotten into their positions. However, the picture hadn't gone as planned. Cyborg had reached over and made bunny ears on Robin's head. Beast Boy had morphed himself into a green cat and started nuzzling Raven's bare leg. Raven had tried to pretend to be unaffected, but he made her smile, anyway. Starfire's smile had been bright and cheery as ever, and she had been right beside Robin.

The camera had flashed.

Robin found a picture of Starfire that he had always kept. He didn't let Cyborg or Beast Boy see it, lest they tease him even worse about his feelings for her than they usually did. He didn't let Starfire see it because he'd been too nervous to tell her. It would've been okay if Raven had seen it; she was mature enough not to tell anyone or make fun of him.

Alas, if a picture said a thousand words, then Starfire's would leave him hard-pressed to speak. She was so beautiful, and not just for her exotic alien looks. She was kind, sweet, and pure.

"_She could never take your place,_" he had said to her of her wicked older sister Blackfire. "No one_ could ever take _your_ place._"

Robin dropped the picture and silently wept. "Starfire . . ." he moaned in his sobs.

The crow just watched with its amber eyes. Finally, the door opened. Robin stood up; ready to fight whoever it was who had come in so uninvited. He could see the intruder perfectly: her small figure, the cloak she wore . . .

Cloak . . .

He had another flash, of a dark, gothic girl with purple hair and pale skin, who always wore a blue cloak and kept herself somewhat separate from the others.

"_Hey, Raven, wanna go to the movies with us?_" Robin had asked.

"_You go,_" Raven had replied, not looking up from her book. "_I'll stay here._"

"Robin," Raven said in present time.

"Raven?" Robin asked. "What's going on? Why is there a tombstone outside with my name on it? How did I end up in that grave?"

"Follow me," Raven replied.

They went to her room. Robin reflected that it was the first time he'd ever seen her room. It was dark and had very few luxuries. There was a bookcase, a globe, and two masks --- happy and sad. On a dresser, he saw a red-jeweled hand mirror.

Raven turned on the light, giving the room dim illumination.

"So what's happened to me?" Robin asked.

"You're dead, Robin," Raven replied.

"Dead?" Robin asked. "But I can't be. I'm right here. What am I, some kind of ghost, then?"

"That crow on your shoulder seems to tell me otherwise," Raven replied. Robin looked at his shoulder and found the crow, its talons gripping his shoulder. Strangely enough, Robin didn't feel any twinges of pain.

"How did I get like this?" Robin asked.

"Today, this very early morning, is a day in the year of 2004," Raven replied. "One year since your death at Slade's hands."

"_Fine,_" Slade had said. "_Be that way. I could kill you all now. But it'll be much more satisfying to finish you one by one --- starting with the red-haired one._" He had mounted a laser on his right arm and fired it right at Starfire, the intensity set high enough to kill.

Starfire should have been dead. But she wasn't.

Because Robin had lunged at her and shoved her out of the way, taking the shot through his own chest.

"_Robin!_" Starfire had shouted. She had flown to him and held him, propping his upper body up with her arms. "_Robin?_"

"_Starfire_" Robin had managed to utter, his voice weak. "_I can't . . . I'm sorry . . ._"

"_Please, stay with me, Robin!_" Starfire had pleaded. "_Oh, why did you do it?_"

"_I couldn't let him hurt you,_" Robin had replied. "_I love you too much._"

"_I love you, too, Robin,_" Starfire had said.

Those had been the last words Robin heard as darkness overtook him.

"Slade," Robin growled, black hatred rising in him. In his anger, he punched the darkened window, shattering it.

Raven was not really surprised, but it was still amazing to see. That window was made out of specially reinforced glass. No way should bare human hands have shattered it, but Robin had done just that.

Robin pulled his hand back, staring at the cuts. He noticed that he hadn't felt any pain from the window shards cutting his flesh. In fact, the cuts had only bled a little before they sealed.

He turned to Raven. "What am I?" The crow, which had earlier jumped to the bookcase, returned to Robin's shoulder.

"There is a legend," Raven replied, "of a crow that delivers the souls of the dead to the afterlife. Sometimes, though, a soul is so burdened that it cannot find peace. So sometimes, the crow can return that soul to set things right."

"Then I know what I'm here for," Robin replied. "To make Slade pay. To stop him --- for good."

"As you are now, you exist between the living world and the other side," Raven explained. "That means that for all intents and purposes, you can't be killed, you'll feel no pain, and you'll heal from any injury. Also, your physical abilities --- strength, agility, speed, and senses --- will increase to superhuman proportions."

"It's 2004 now, right?" Robin said. "So what happened between my death and now?"

"Slade went completely over the edge," Raven explained. "Somehow, he blamed us for what happened to you. He became extremely determined to destroy us, and to that end he united many super-powered criminals under him in a crime syndicate. After only a few months, it went worldwide. Superboy and Wonder Girl joined us and Nightwing formed his own team, the Outsiders.

"We don't know what Slade hopes to gain through his crimes, other than our complete destruction," Raven finished. She walked over to the dresser and took out a makeup kit, then came to Robin.

"What's this, Raven?" Robin asked.

"A makeup kit," Raven replied in her "What, are you stupid?" voice.

"I don't think it's the time to be sprucing up," Robin said.

"It's not for me," Raven contradicted. "It's for you."

It was then that Raven began the task of transforming Robin's outside to match his newly dark inside. First, she took white foundation and spread it over Robin's entire face, avoiding his eyes and lips. Next, she applied black eyeliner and eye shadow to his eyes, using the eyeliner to draw a vertical line above and below each eye.

_Like black tears,_ she thought, remembering how Starfire had cried after Robin's death.

Robin started, having seen a flash of Starfire crying. Then he realized that it was Raven's memory.

"You can also see into people's souls," Raven said. "You will be able to feel their thoughts, emotions, and memories."

Raven continued, painting Robin's lips black. She took black lip liner and outlined his lips with it, then used it to draw a curving line extending from each corner of his lips, evoking an evil smile.

_An evil smile,_ Raven thought. _Just like how Slade would smile under that mask._

Robin smiled. It wasn't his normal smile. It was cold, dark, and devoid of mirth. It was the smile of the devil.

But Robin was no devil. Just a dark angel of vengeance.

Robin went to his investigation room and opened a hidden door, revealing a black costume with a white skull mask. Red X.

The costume would be a perfect fit for his new, darker image, but with some modifications. Of course, the skull mask would have to go.

When Robin came back out, he was dressed in the Red X suit, but with the aforementioned modifications. First, he wore black gloves with studded silver wrist-bracelets in place of the original gray gloves. Second, he wore a black leather belt with silver studs. Third, he wore buckled black leather boots.

He looked himself in the mirror and smiled.

"It's not a good day to be a bad guy."

"Let me see (let me see)

How my life has been (taken)

Taken

This demon (haunts me)

Haunts me

They're waiting (help me)

Help me.

"You fuck me up

I'm gagged and bound

You pick me up when I am down

I cannot live without them

I do not live without them.

"Hey daddy (daddy)

They are taking me (away)

Putting things in me (my soul)

My soul

They're eating (help me)

Please help me.

"You fuck me up

I'm gagged and bound 

You pick me up when I am down

I cannot live without them

I do not live without them.

"They carry this thing inside me

Wants to get out

All it does is scream and shout

I'm trying not to let it out

They tell me to hurt myself

They tell me to hurt myself

They tell me to hurt myself

But I'm not gonna listen.

"You fuck me up

I'm gagged and bound

You pick me up when I am down

I cannot live without them

I do not live without them.

"You fuck me up

I'm gagged and bound

You pick me up when I am down

I cannot live without them

I do not live without them.

"Hey daddy (waiting)."

Korn – "Hey Daddy"

End Notes: This is just the beginning. Robin has died and risen once again as a dark messenger of vengeance. I hope you like this one.

By the way, the scene between Beast Boy and Raven was not meant to pair them up. I find the idea interesting, but I don't see it happening. As for Slade's scene, try not to interpret it as Slade/Robin. I know it can be interpreted that way, but don't.

Also, Superboy and Wonder Girl are not original characters. Anyone who knows the Teen Titans comics knows that they are currently Titans. There were actually two Wonder Girls; the first one was one of the original Titans and a "spirit sister" to Wonder Woman, while the second (the one I use in this story) was an ordinary girl until Zeus gave her the powers of flight and super-strength.

E-mail me if you want, or just review.


	2. Soaring Through the Darkness

"The Crow: Black Robin"

Chapter 2: "Soaring Through the Darkness"

Disclaimer: Teen Titans and The Crow are not mine. The former is property of DC Comics and Warner Brothers. The latter is the property of James O'Barr.

Author's note: I know a good number of you reading this are likely to be Crow fans, especially of the first movie. Therefore, you'll probably recognize Robin's line at the end of the first chapter as a quote from that movie. Also, I will be quoting rock songs at the beginning and end of each chapter --- whatever suits the mood.

This story is rated R for a reason, violence and future sexuality being that reason.

"Blood spilled 

Heartfelt

Head filled

Play dead.

"Consider yourself now, my friend

Enemy number one

You are bound and gagged

Sacred circle, broken trust.

"Now the plague (_Blood spilled_) has been cast in your town

(_Heartfelt_) Acid tongue, venom word

(_Head filled_) Why bother to lie?

(_Play dead_) Leave the lamb behind.

"Your mouth full of

Your mouth full of lead and lies

Your mouth full of

Your mouth full of lead and lies.

"Don't walk into fire

You might find that you'll get burned

What a fine dirty face

Guilt at last, is this a lesson that's learned?

"Can you hear (_Blood spilled_) your own blood in your veins

(_Heartfelt_) Calling out your demise?

(_Head filled_) Silence

(_Play dead_) A word to the wise.

"Your mouth full of

Your mouth full of lead and lies

Your mouth full of

Your mouth full of lead and lies.

"I can't hear you scream

Drowning so it seems

I can't hear you scream

Drowning so it seems your mouth is full of poison.

"One more time.

Say it to my face. . . ."

Kittie – "Mouthful of Poison"

The crow glided through the night, silent and sure. Behind him Robin ran, faster than anyone human had a right to run.

At the space center, Cinderblock was fighting off the guards. Of course, he was just a distraction, given that he was all stone brawn and no brain. Speaking of brains, Jinx was inside the space center using her hex powers to scramble the computers.

The guards fired laser rifles at Cinderblock, but the blasts bounced off his rocky self. His response was to charge at them and everyone got out of the way, save for one very brave (or stupid) guard, who kept firing. Cinderblock's very large stone fist embedded itself in the guard's stomach and sent him flying a good distance back.

"Are you all right?" another guard asked.

The guard that had been recently pummeled by Cinderblock just moaned in pain.

"He's not all right, but at least he's still living," a third guard said.

They saw lights flashing inside the space center.

"This is all one big distraction, isn't it?" a guard surmised.

"Probably, but we can't do anything with that walking rock in our way," another guard replied.

"Time for the big guns," the leader said.

On cue, a large metal cannon was rolled in.

"Fire!" the leader ordered.

The cannon's "mouth" glowed with blue-white light, and then that light streamed out at Cinderblock. The blast struck Cinderblock dead in the chest. Unfortunately, it didn't even crack his skin much less seriously harm him.

Cinderblock charged again, and the guards fired the cannon again. However, the stone strongman charged through the blue-white light and he crushed the cannon. Then he proceeded to throw its remains at the guards, who scattered to avoid it.

Robin raced across the skyline of the city, every fiber of his body afire with dark power. He didn't just see through his eyes, he also saw through the crow's eyes, eyes that saw all the way to the space center. He saw Cinderblock making mincemeat of the guards and Jinx inside wrecking the computers and stealing schematics.

It was a strange thing, seeing through both his eyes and the crow's. He had no words to describe it, but the closest thing he could come up with was a strange sense of duality.

Finally, he had arrived at the space center. The guards had given up trying to fight Cinderblock and were simply trying to get past him. However, the stony brute wouldn't allow it at all.

Robin chuckled darkly. Cinderblock's vote no longer counted.

He leaped across, now-superhuman strength and reflexes carrying him right to the stone Goliath in a painful (for Cinderblock) body slam. He flipped off Cinderblock, but held onto him and --- in a previously assumed impossible move --- flipped him over.

Cinderblock looked up, dull red eyes staring in confusion and rage at Robin. Robin knew what he was thinking: "How could such a puny creature do this to me?"

"Hello, Cinderblock," Robin said. "Long time no see."

As he stared down the stone strongman, memories began to flash in his mind.

_Robin was chasing down one of Slade's robots, the chase having led him away from his teammates and to Cinderblock._

_Robin and Cinderblock fighting.__ Robin defeating Cinderblock, but barely._

_Slade telling Robin that it was all a ruse to lure him away from the other Titans and that now they were infected with nanoscopic probes that would kill them from the inside unless Robin became his apprentice._

Robin glared at Cinderblock as the memories took hold, his eyes darkening with hate, hate for Cinderblock's master Slade.

Cinderblock got back up and ran at Robin, who simply leaped up and kicked him _hard,_ putting a crack in his rocky face. Robin followed up with a vicious punch, putting another crack in Cinderblock. Cinderblock struck back, with a punch that struck Robin in his white-and-black-painted face with a 6-ton force. However, it did not have the desired effect.

Robin looked back up, and smirked evilly. He felt no pain from Cinderblock's punch, and his jaw was already setting itself back into place.

"My turn," he said, his voice low and sinister. With an inhuman yell, he punched Cinderblock right in his chest with enough force to give him several cracks. The cracks began to extend like spider webs and run deeper than just Cinderblock's surface. Through it all, Cinderblock was just standing there in dumb surprise.

Finally, he just crumbled, the only part of him that was still intact being his head.

Robin stalked toward Cinderblock's remains and glared down coldly at his head. Then he brought his black-booted foot down on Cinderblock's head, breaking it to pieces and then grinding those pieces to dust. He walked through Cinderblock's remains, grinding every single rock fragment to dust. Satisfied, he walked away.

Of course, when he walked away, he didn't exactly see that the dust that was once Cinderblock had settled into the image of a crow.

Robin entered the space center. He smiled chillingly.

"Now to jinx a jinx," he said to himself. He looked through the crow's eyes, seeing the floor where the pink-haired enchantress was. He calmly stalked toward an elevator and pressed the button for up. Within seconds, the elevator had come down and he went inside, the crow resting on his shoulder.

The elevator rose until it reached the floor Jinx was on. Then the door opened and he stepped out. He walked down the hallway, the crow flying ahead, until he found the room that housed the main computer of the space center. He opened it and found Jinx, downloading schematics on various parts.

He had no idea what those parts did, but he was not going to let Jinx get away with whatever she had in mind for them.

"Hello, Jinx," he said, his voice a dark purr.

Jinx whirled and saw Robin. "Who might you be?"

"Don't tell me you don't remember me, Jinx," Robin purred. "Then again, we never did spend that much time together, and I was dressed quite differently then. You remember --- you liked my belt an awful lot."

Jinx stared into Robin's ice-indigo eyes. Then she smirked in realization.

"Someone mended your wings, didn't they, my little songbird," Jinx said.

"The only thing I'll be singing for you is a dirge," Robin replied, his voice now a cold purr.

"I don't know how you got back here, but say goodnight, Robin," Jinx said. Her eyes glowed pink and she fired waves of hex energy at Robin.

Robin leaped out of the way of the blast, the crow flying off his shoulder to a nearby perch. "Try again."

Jinx fired again, not at Robin, but at the computer. Its monitor flickered to life with a terrible message.

"Self-destruct activated. Self-destruct in 3 minutes."

"Not even you should be able to come back from being blown up," Jinx stated.

Robin chuckled sinisterly. "Then we'll burn in hell together." He extended a hand in a beckoning motion.

Jinx came at him, not with hex-blasts but with her own fists. Hand-to-hand fighting may not have been her strong suit, but the H.I.V.E. academy taught all its students that a good super-villain had to be well rounded and that included learning how to fight without the use of powers or gadgets. So, yeah, she figured she'd be able to handle Robin. Unfortunately, there were two things she hadn't accounted for.

First, Robin had been trained by Batman himself, and the Dark Knight was a master of every style of combat known to man. Second, after being resurrected by the crow, Robin's previously incredible agility had increased to superhuman levels. As agile as she was, Jinx could not exactly match that, nor his presently superhuman strength.

Robin blocked her blows, and struck back with fierce attacks of his own.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to hit girls?" Jinx asked mockingly.

Robin didn't bother dignifying that with a response. He simply kicked her in her stomach, sending her flying onto the console of the computer. He looked up at the monitor. There were now two minutes and twelve seconds left.

Jinx got back up, an angry look on her lovely pale features. "That's it! No more Miss Nice Jinx!" She fired devastating waves of hex energy at Robin, but again he dodged. This time, she couldn't see where he'd landed.

She got her answer when something grabbed her and pinned her to a wall. That something turned her around and she came face to face with a pair of lurid violet-blue eyes accented by black makeup.

Jinx smiled, seeing the cold dark fire burn in those eyes. "I always knew you had a little bad in you. You just need someone to share it with."

The monitor was now counting down from one minute and fifty seconds.

Robin just stared coldly at her. "Don't try to seduce me, witch. It won't work. I feel nothing for you, except satisfaction that you'll be dead in less than two minutes."

Jinx chuckled evilly. "Do you really think she'll take you as you are now, a murderous, vengeful zombie? Better to stay with me. I'll be far better for you than she ever could be."

"Not in this lifetime," Robin replied. "Or the next."

Now there was only a little more than a minute left.

"Only a minute left, Robin," Jinx purred, taunting him. "What are you going to do, wait to get blown up with me? You did say we would burn in hell together."

Now there was a little less than a minute.

"I changed my mind," Robin replied, his blackened lips curling into a sadistic smile. He stepped back from her and fired a red X-bolt at her, pinning her to the wall. As her hands had been bound, there was no way she could use her powers. However, one could never be too careful, so he fired two more X-bolts, each one pinning a hand. "You can die by yourself."

Robin turned and walked away, the crow resuming its place on his shoulder.

Jinx struggled fruitlessly in her binds, with only thirty seconds left. However, after nineteen seconds were left, she realized the cold hard truth about her predicament.

There was no way for her to escape. In less than twenty seconds, she would die.

Somehow, a laugh bubbled up from Jinx's throat and out of her mouth.

_At least I'll go out in a blaze of glory,_ was her last thought before the space center exploded, taking Jinx with it.

Meanwhile, the Outsiders had been alerted to the attack on the space center earlier. With Nightwing leading them, they had answered the call.

The Outsiders consisted of six members, much like the Teen Titans did now: Nightwing, the leader; Impulse, the teen speed demon; Argent, the pale-skinned plasma energy manipulator; Secret, the incorporeal spirit warder; Empress, the teleporting "princess" of the team; and Arsenal, a charming rogue of an archer.

Ever since Robin's death, an event that still brought quickly repressed tears to Nightwing's eyes, Slade had become even worse. It was as if something had snapped inside him, driving him to become even more dangerous than before. The attack on the space center was certainly the offshoot of Slade's plans.

Nightwing had seen a lot in his years of fighting crime. However, nothing had quite prepared him for what he was about to see when the Outsiders arrived.

The space center was a hollowed-out shell of its former self.

"Crap," Arsenal said. "If that's what it looks like from out here, I don't wanna see what it looks like from the inside."

Nightwing turned to a guard. "What happened here?"

"Cinderblock went on a rampage," the guard replied. "He never really tried to get inside; it was more like he was simply trying to keep _us _from going inside."

"Typical," Empress sneered. "That rockhead's too stupid to be anything other than a distraction."

"I don't think Cinderblock could've been responsible for the space center," Argent said. "Please go on."

"Anyway, we did everything we could to hold that guy back, and nothing worked," the guard continued. "Then out of nowhere, this guy dressed in black and painted up like a morbid clown showed up and beat the crap out of him."

"Someone beat up Cinderblock?" Impulse asked. He did a literally super-fast once-over of the site. "Dude. I think I can believe it now."

"What is it, Impulse?" Nightwing asked, walking over to the teen speedster, the other Outsiders following.

"Look," Impulse said in a voice devoid of any levity.

The Outsiders looked --- and saw Cinderblock's remains, which had been ground into dust that had settled into the shape of a crow.

If she could have, the ghostly young woman known as Secret would have shivered. For she knew who --- or what --- could have left such a symbol.

"He has returned," she said, her ethereal voice resonating.

"Who?" Nightwing asked. Then, something made him turn, and when he did, he saw a sight that was completely unfamiliar and yet felt familiar at the same time.

It was a teenage boy, small and lithe, clad in form-fitting black with a black cape hanging off his shoulders. The suit was accented with studded silver bracelets, a studded black leather belt, and buckled black leather boots, not to mention a red X on the chest. That was not the strange thing about him, though. What _was_ strange was that his face was painted dead white with black makeup accenting his eyes and lips. In fact, the way it was applied made it look like someone had slashed his eyes and that he was smiling.

"Nightwing," the boy said. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

The boy's voice was familiar, but chilling in the mocking friendliness that ran through it.

"It is him," Secret said. "He is the revenant, the restless spirit that has returned to this world."

"What's with the makeup, kid?" Arsenal asked. "Playing around in Mommy's makeup kit?"

The boy just graced the young archer with a cold, withering stare.

"And I thought only Batman could stare at you like that," Impulse said.

Nightwing looked more closely at the boy. He didn't understand why, but the boy was so very familiar to him.

_Those eyes,_ he thought. _I've seen them before, but never like the way they are now._

Finally, Nightwing realized who he was. But . . . it couldn't be . . . could it?

"Robin?" Nightwing asked.

"So you do remember me, Nightwing," Robin replied.

"Robin?" Empress asked. "_The_ Robin? The kid that replaced you after you left Batman? The kid that Slade bastard killed?"

"The one and only," Robin confirmed.

"I don't think anyone ever told you this, but you're supposed to be dead," Impulse said.

"You must be the Outsiders," Robin said. "Raven told me about you."

"Raven?" Empress asked. "She knows? And she didn't tell us? Wait, do the other Teen Titans know?"

"No," Robin replied. "And I don't intend them to know."

"They'll find out, anyway," Nightwing said.

"Y'know, maybe this hasn't occurred to you guys, but if Cinderblock was just the distraction, then who the hell was in on the real action?" Arsenal asked.

"Jinx," Robin replied. "I'm sure you'll find her charred remains inside the wreckage of the space center, assuming she didn't pull off a last-minute escape, but I highly doubt that."

Nightwing looked at Robin, a look of shock registering on the features of his face that weren't covered by his eye-mask. "Don't tell me you left her to die!"

"She had to," Robin stated simply.

"He is right," Secret said. "His spirit is trapped between this world and the next. He cannot rest in peace until the injustice that left him like this has been rectified."

Impulse ran to the wreckage of the space center in a white-and-red blur and came back in less than three seconds. "I found Jinx, but you don't wanna see. It's not a pretty sight."

"It's too bad," Robin said, his voice a cold, mocking purr. "If things had worked out differently, I think I could have grown to like her."

He walked past the Outsiders and away from the space center, the crow settling on his shoulder. _Two down,_ he thought. _Now to work my way up the chain until I take down Slade for good._

Nightwing stared at Robin's retreating back, saddened and frightened at once. Sad for Robin because of how he'd died and his unhappy fate, and frightened because of the cold, vengeful spirit he had become. So different from the bright, cheerful boy he had once known.

"You simply defy, I cannot even look to the sky,

We try it single file, take on me, and it's my denial,

I cannot ever find, something safe, not done on the fly,

I cannot live this way, floor and me will kick the P.A.

"You wanna play with me

I'm really gonna rock your world

You want to comfort me

I'm gonna rock your world.

"You say everything is fine, I cannot compete with the skies,

My sing has crossed the line, come in me,

I fly through the sky, I can not ever find,

You and me will make all the lines,

Oh, if they could see the plague,

No one would want to be me.

"You wanna play with me

I'm really gonna rock your world

You wanna comfort me

I'm gonna rock your world.

"So I fly

Take me

I cannot fly

Most people hate me

To fly away from this pain.

"Please take away

Please take away my P.A."

Korn – "Kick the P.A."

End Notes: If you want to know more about the Outsiders, just check out a site called Titans Tower. With the exception of Nightwing and Arsenal, who were founding Titans in the comics, the Outsiders I use in this story come from the Young Justice comic books and earlier incarnations of the comic-book Titans.

So there you have it. Robin's vengeance has begun. Will he reunite with the Teen Titans? How will he take Superboy's presence and position? And how will the other four original Titans, Starfire especially, handle his presence?


	3. Darkened Reunion

"The Crow: Black Robin"

Chapter 3: "Darkened Reunion"

Disclaimer: TT and The Crow are owned by their respective creators, neither of whom is me.

Author's note: This is going to be the chapter where Robin meets up with the Teen Titans again. Starre, sorry about Jinx, but she had to go --- and Starfire is far better for Robin.

"Throw away my dreams

This fight for my life isn't getting behind me

And I've been told to scream

Where no one can hear me, it doesn't mean nothing.

"So make me believe

Just take me away from this hell I've created

And I'm afraid

I'm breaking my own vows knowing I'll go down in flames.

"I know this can't be right

There's got to be something more that I can live for

And I can only hide

Inside of this sickness for so long again.

"So make me believe

Just take me away from this hell I've created

And I'm afraid

I'm breaking my own vows knowing I'll go down.

"Make me believe

Just take me away from temptation that's calling me

And I'm afraid

I'm breaking my own vows knowing I'll go down in flames.

"Running in circles

Confusion is calling my name

Hiding inside of this poisoning madness again

I'm tired, I'm broken

I'm walking along with the dead

Will I ever feel like I once did?

"So make me . . .

"Make me believe

Just take me away from this hell I've created

And I'm afraid

I'm breaking my own vows knowing I'll go down.

"Make me believe

Make me believe

Make me believe

I'm breaking my own vows knowing I'll go down in flames."

Godsmack – "Make Me Believe"

The Outsiders congregated at their base in New York City, stunned by the recent developments they had seen.

"There's no way that could be Robin," Impulse said to Nightwing. "From what you've told me and what I've heard from his friends, he isn't the kind of person who'd do those things."

"Only Robin could've known where the Red X outfit was kept," Nightwing replied. "And where Slade's concerned, there's not a whole lot he wouldn't do from what the Titans told me. Still, knowing him for as long as I have --- it _is_ hard to think of him doing stuff like that."

"It was him," Secret stated, cold certainty in her voice.

"How can that be?" Empress asked. "People don't just crawl out of their graves and start walking around like nothing happened!"

"Hate to tell you this, princess, but in our line of work that's always a possibility," Arsenal joked.

"The crow that accompanied Robin is a spirit warder," Secret explained, "like me. However, while I guide unquiet souls to the Abyss, the crow returns them to this world to avenge the injustice that preceded their deaths."

"And that crow brought Robin back?" Argent asked.

"Yes," Secret replied. "As he is now, he cannot feel pain or be killed by mortal weapons and he will regenerate from any wound. Also, his strength and speed have increased far beyond human levels."

"I wouldn't be tempted to dispute that after what happened to Cinderblock," Impulse said.

"We're going to have to tell the Titans," Nightwing said. "The ones who don't know."

Slade had tapped into the security feed in the space center to watch as Jinx pulled off the heist. However, it was soon obvious that things hadn't quite gone the way he'd planned.

Sure, Cinderblock was thrashing the guards like nobody's business, but that ended when a lithe, black-clad figure leaped from the shadows to attack him. The figure stopped moving long enough for Slade to get a good look at him.

He was dressed in the Red X costume, with a few stylistic alterations. Strangely enough, he didn't wear the skull mask but a cosmetic mask of white foundation and black makeup around the eyes and lips.

Slade watched as "Red X" and Cinderblock fought. He smiled underneath his mask when "Red X" crushed Cinderblock's remains to dust.

"Robin, Robin, how you've changed," he purred.

The view shifted to inside the space center. Red X-Robin confronted Jinx and they began to fight. However, Robin was simply playing with Jinx, knowing full well that he could defeat her. Slade smirked when he saw Robin pin the pink-haired sorceress and said sorceress's attempt to seduce him. The smirk grew wider when he saw Robin use the X-bolts to trap Jinx and then leave her to die.

"Ah, this is what I've always wanted to see from you," Slade said. "If hatred of me is what it takes to corrupt you, then I shall simply have to make you hate me even more."

It was a shame that his plans had been foiled, but it mattered not. For his original goal --- making Robin his heir --- was suddenly within reach again. And this new, darker version would be a perfect successor.

It was breakfast time in Titans Tower.

The Teen Titans came downstairs to the dining table. Beast Boy had his tofu eggs and bacon, while Cyborg stuck with the actual product. Raven drank herbal tea, and Starfire drowned her pancakes in maple syrup. Superboy ate Apple Cinnamon Cheerios and Wonder Girl had toast.

"Raven, is something troubling you?" Starfire asked.

"No," Raven lied. "I am never troubled, remember?"

"With all due respect, I do not believe you," Starfire replied. "Something does trouble you."

"Nothing, Starfire," Raven contradicted. "I am at ease."

"Then why's the cup glowing black and shaking?" Superboy asked.

"Because you ask too many questions," Raven replied.

"Perhaps we are being rude," Starfire conceded. "If our questions upset you, then we shall cease asking them."

"Thank you," Raven replied, a little calmer now.

"All right," Superboy replied, with a sidelong look that said, "This isn't over yet."

After Raven had finished her herbal tea, she went upstairs to the rooftop of Titans Tower to meditate.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos," she chanted. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos . . ."

It was so hard to lie to Starfire, especially given what she was keeping from her.

_Don't you think she'd be happy to know that Robin's alive again?_ a voice chided her, the voice being that of her happier self.

_Don't be foolish,_ Raven's intellect replied. _He's not alive; he's just a living ghost. They cannot be together. Once he has completed his task, he will have to return to the other side._

_He scared me,_ Raven's timidity whispered. _After I put that makeup on his face, it's like he became a completely different person, like an angry, vengeful spirit possessed him._

Raven sighed, and continued chanting. Her intellectual side was right; there was no way for Robin and Starfire to be together as he was now.

_Is that all that troubles you?_ the dark voice of Raven's repressed evil whispered. _Or is it that for once, Robin's all yours? He's here, and you're the only one who knows._

_Shut up,_ Raven replied.

_Is it true, then?_ the dark voice asked.

_Shut up,_ Raven repeated.

_Fine, be that way,_ Raven's evil side conceded. _The fact remains, though, that when Starfire sees Robin as he is now, she'll probably wet herself in fear of him. He'll need someone to comfort him, you know._

_I've had enough of you!_ Raven screamed in her mind. _Leave me alone!_

_I will,_ Raven's evil said. _Just think about what I said, about what you know._ Then it faded into the background of her mind.

Raven continued chanting, working even harder to ease herself. Her evil side had a point. Starfire probably would have a difficult time understanding what Robin had become. She would probably fear him, and turn away from him in her fear.

Inside the Tower, the other Titans were wondering what was up with Raven.

"What's wrong with Raven?" Beast Boy asked. "She was acting like there was a bug up her ---"

"Don't finish that, please," Wonder Girl requested. _Especially since Kon here will tease you about what _you'd _rather have up there._

"Ok, ok," Beast Boy conceded. "Point is she was worried about something."

"I think we all noticed," Cyborg said.

Before any further debate could commence, the Titans' computer began to beep.

"Incoming transmission," the computer said.

The screen flickered to life, bearing Nightwing's image.

"Nightwing," Superboy said. "What's up?"

"Trouble," Nightwing replied. "The space center got blown up."

"Blown up?" Wonder Girl echoed.

"Yeah, blown up," Nightwing confirmed. "That's not the real problem. I'm sending you the security feed from that night."

The screen image shifted to Cinderblock thrashing the guards that were shooting at him in a futile effort to stop him. Then, they saw a figure in black tackle the rock ogre and flip him over. The move occurred so quickly that the Titans, including Raven, could barely see it happen.

"Damn, that little guy's strong," Cyborg commented.

The camera angle shifted so that the Teen Titans now saw the black-clad figure from the front. He was wearing a costume that the four original Titans recognized.

"Red X!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

Indeed, it was the costume, but not the name that the boy referred to himself as. Yes, it was a boy, his dark hair hanging down with some strands in his eyes. His face was painted a ghastly white with black makeup around his eyes and lips.

"Who is that guy?" Cyborg asked.

Starfire felt a chill when she saw his image. The cold rage in his eyes was horrifying to behold. However, the boy looked very familiar.

"What's he supposed to be, some kind of demonic mime?" Wonder Girl asked.

"Try for dead prostitute," Superboy corrected.

Raven just stared stonily ahead as the boy fought Cinderblock.

"Ooh, that's gotta hurt," Beast Boy remarked when he saw Cinderblock punch the boy in the face.

"Hey, wait!" Cyborg exclaimed in surprise. "He's just smiling like Cinderblock just pecked him on the cheek!"

With one final attack, Cinderblock fell apart, his head the only thing still intact. The boy walked over his remains, grinding them to dust. As he walked away, the Teen Titans could see that the dust had settled into a crow's image.

The screen image shifted back to Nightwing. "You think that's scary? Wait until you see _this._"

The screen shifted again, this time to inside the space center. They saw Jinx downloading schematics from the computers when the boy walked in on her.

The Titans gasped in surprise at Jinx's words just before she fired her hex waves at the boy. "I don't know how you got back here, but say goodnight, Robin."

"Robin?!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

"Robin?!" Cyborg echoed.

"Robin?" Starfire wondered.

"Robin?!" Superboy exclaimed.

"Robin?!" Wonder Girl echoed.

Again, Raven just stared stonily ahead.

The Titans watched as "Robin" and Jinx fought. Throughout it all, "Robin" seemed to be toying with Jinx. Finally, he pinned Jinx to a wall. Jinx didn't seem fazed at all by this; she just taunted him.

Then they saw a truly chilling sight. "Robin" blasted Jinx with three red X-bolts, binding her securely to the wall and preventing her from using her hands.

"You can die by yourself," he'd said before leaving, a crow perched on his shoulder.

The screen shifted back to Nightwing. "Now you know."

"That cannot be Robin!" Starfire exclaimed. "He is dead, and he would never do such horrible things!"

"I'm with Star," Cyborg said. "That guy may look like him, but that's not Robin."

"Robin was kinda scary when it came to Slade, but he wouldn't go _that_ far," Beast Boy agreed.

"It _is_ Robin," Raven stated.

"How do you know, Raven?" Starfire asked.

Raven stared in cold silence.

"_How do you know, Raven?_" Starfire repeated, more insistently and angrily though her voice was even.

"I sensed him," Raven replied. "Earlier this morning, before any of you woke up. He'd just gotten out of his grave and he was in his room crying."

"How could he get out of his grave?" Starfire asked. "Dead people do not move around."

On the other end, Nightwing ended the transmission. They needed time to themselves to sort this out.

"The crow brought him back," Raven replied.

"The crow?" Cyborg asked.

"Yes, the crow," Raven confirmed. "It is a spirit warder that guides souls to the afterlife. However, in some cases, a terrible injustice is involved in the person's death and the soul cannot rest. In those cases, the crow can return that person's soul to set things right."

"I get it," Wonder Girl said. "Slade killed Robin before Robin could stop him. So he's back now to stop him for good."

"That was what you were troubled about," Starfire said. "I cannot believe you did not tell us, Raven."

"He won't be here for long, anyway, Starfire," Raven replied. "Once his business is done here, he will have no choice but to return to the other side."

Starfire just looked at Raven, betrayal and anger mixed in her expression.

"We'll worry about it later," Superboy said. "Training's in five."

For the entire day, a suffocating miasma hovered over the Teen Titans. Starfire was unusually withdrawn, and during training, she had taken to her sparring with Raven with more aggression than necessary or normal. Raven was guilt-ridden over her secrecy. Cyborg and Beast Boy were torn; on one hand they were glad he was back, but on the other they were hurt that he was avoiding them and shocked at his murderous new attitude. Superboy and Wonder Girl were basically neutral, having no real personal feeling on the subject since they'd never met Robin.

"So where do you think he is now?" Beast Boy asked Cyborg.

"Knowing him, he's probably in some secret place," Cyborg replied. "If I were trying to avoid my friends after coming back from the dead, I'd be there too."

"Why?" Starfire asked. "Why did he kill Cinderblock and Jinx?"

"Their connection to Slade," Raven replied. "It was through Jinx that Robin was first made aware of Slade's existence. Cinderblock led Robin and us into the traps that ultimately led to his death. Blood for blood."

"Why did you not tell us Robin had returned, Raven?" Starfire asked, all traces of anger gone, only confusion and hurt left.

"He asked me not to tell you," Raven replied. "He knew he wouldn't be able to stay for very long and he didn't want to cause you any more pain."

"It would have been worth it to see him again," Starfire said. She would have said more, but that was when the alarm interrupted.

The Teen Titans rushed to the computer monitor. "Gizmo's pulling a robbery in the tech district," Superboy said.

"That little creep again," Wonder Girl sighed, annoyed. "Doesn't he ever learn?"

"He never does," Cyborg replied.

The Teen Titans were at the tech district in no time. Gizmo was wearing a high-tech backpack with eight spider-like legs/tentacles extending from it.

"If it isn't the snot-munchers," the diminutive genius sneered. "Munch on this!" Gizmo pressed a control on his belt and miniature missiles fired at the Titans, who dodged.

Superboy and Wonder Girl flew at Gizmo, but one of his tentacles knocked them aside. Starfire shot starbolts at him, but they impacted harmlessly on an energy shield. Gizmo struck back with one of his tentacles, which was aiming at Starfire's vulnerable midriff. However, this attack was blocked by Raven's telekinetic powers.

Beast Boy turned into a mammoth and charged at Gizmo, who used the metal tentacles to spring away unharmed. He landed on his feet and held up the tentacles so that their tips split open, revealing laser barrels. All eight tentacles fired their lasers at the Titans.

Cyborg leaped out of the way and fired his plasma cannon at Gizmo. Again, the shield protected him.

Superboy flew at Gizmo and gave him a hard punch to his face in the instant between his deactivation of the shield and the resumption of his barrage. Gizmo fired back at Superboy, who just flew out of the way. Wonder Girl used her bracelets to block the laser bursts coming at her in the same manner taught to her by Wonder Woman. As she blocked, she flew at Gizmo, getting close enough so that he couldn't fire without risking getting hit by a ricochet. Then she delivered a swift kick to his stomach, sending him flying.

Gizmo used his tentacles to catch himself.

"Not bad for a snot-face," he mocked.

"Who are you calling 'snot-face,' you little worthless piece of excretion?" Wonder Girl asked.

"You," Gizmo replied, firing the tentacle-lasers again. Again, the Titans dodged, also taking measures to protect themselves or to attack. Then Gizmo's tentacles did something surprising. They melded together to form into wings!

Gizmo activated the mini-rocket in his backpack and flew up into the air.

"How do you like me now, snot-faces?" Gizmo asked.

"Just give up, Gizmo," Superboy advised, sounding bored. "It'll make things easier on all of us."

"How about _you_ give up, Supersnot?" Gizmo retorted, strafing the Teen Titans with laser bursts from the tentacle-wings. This time, they couldn't dodge them all. Like any animal that just smelled blood, Gizmo went in for the kill, firing viciously.

Finally, the Titans were down. Gizmo flew down to Starfire and landed, the tentacles separating themselves.

"I always thought you were hot," he said, extending a tentacle to slide up her leg. Just as it was moving under her skirt, its progress was halted by a red shuriken that sliced it off at the joint.

"Don't you dare touch her," a cold yet familiar voice said.

Gizmo turned --- and saw his worst nightmare.

It was Robin, but no longer the cheerful young leader of the Teen Titans. This was a darker Robin, a Robin born from the ashes of his former self.

And he would not stand for anyone trying to molest his Starfire, least of all a miserable pimple on the face of the earth like Gizmo.

The Titans looked in the same direction as Gizmo, seeing Robin in the flesh.

"Where the hell did you come from, you snot-eating freak?" Gizmo asked.

Robin smiled, but not in a pleasant manner. It wasn't even a confident smirk. No, that smile was one that said, "You will die and I will make you suffer before you do."

"Where the hell did I come from?" Robin replied. "Big Bang, primordial ooze, divine hand of a benevolent creator, take your pick. Although recent events have caused me to doubt the existence of a benevolent creator."

"Who cares where you came from?" Gizmo sneered. "You're going to die, anyway." He started firing at Robin, but Robin dodged the bursts with a speed and agility beyond anything the other original Titans had ever seen him exhibit. After a while of dodging, Robin finally decided to go on the attack.

"One crow, sorrow," Robin recited, tearing off one of Gizmo's remaining tentacles. He moved out of the way of the other six as they fired. "Two crows, mirth!" He tore off a second and again dodged the remaining tentacles. "Three crows, a wedding."

As he said this, he envisioned himself and Starfire at the altar, getting married. Knowing that this would never be, he viciously tore the third tentacle off.

"Four crows, a birth." Again, he had a vision of himself and Starfire but with a beautiful baby, the baby having Starfire's skin and eyes and Robin's hair. Again, knowing that this would never be, he tore the fourth tentacle off.

"Five crows, silver. Six crows, gold. Seven crows, a secret never to be told." As he recited this, he tore off Gizmo's remaining tentacles.

Gizmo activated his jet pack in a futile attempt at escape, as Robin grabbed his leg and pulled him down hard for a vicious knee jab. Robin then punted him into the wall like he was a football. The Titans watched in horror as Robin stalked toward Gizmo and grabbed him by his collar.

"Say goodnight," he snarled and punched Gizmo hard, making him cough up blood. Robin dropped him and stalked to where he had left Gizmo's tentacles. He crushed them together into a ball and then reshaped it into a wicked blade. He grabbed Gizmo and dragged him outside the government computer warehouse he had just tried to rob.

"Please! Don't!" Gizmo wailed pathetically.

"And you were so confident before," Robin said coldly. "Guess that proves that for all your smarts, you're nothing without your fancy gear." He held the blade to Gizmo's throat. "Goodbye."

He slashed Gizmo's throat and the boy genius fell, blood pooling around him. He smiled and waited until all the crimson fluid had spilled out of his throat and then proceeded to remove Gizmo. He used that blood to paint the image of a crow.

Satisfied, he decided to go in and see how his teammates were doing. There were a couple of new ones, but not entirely unknown to him.

"Aren't you happy to see me?" Robin asked, his voice cheerful but containing a dark edge.

Starfire looked at Robin, mixed joy, confusion, and terror on her face. "Robin? Is that you?"

At seeing Starfire again, the shadows in his eyes lightened, even if only for an instant. "Yeah, it's me, Star." He smiled, but not the cold, malevolent smiles he'd worn as of late. It was definitely Robin's normal, cheerful smile.

"Robin!" Starfire exclaimed joyfully and flew right into his arms.

"Moon hangs around

A blade over my head

Reminds me what to do before I'm dead

Night consumes light

And all I dread

Reminds me what to do before I'm dead.

"Sun reclines, heats my mind

Reminds me what to leave behind

Light eats night and all I never said

Reminds me what to do before I'm . . .

"To see you

To touch you.

"Epochs fly, reminds me

What I hide, reminds me

The desert skies

Cracks the spies

Reminds me what I never tried

The ocean wide salted red

Reminds me what to do before I'm . . .

"To see you

To touch you

To feel you

To tell you.

"The sun reclines . . . reminds me

The desert skies . . . reminds me

The ocean wide salted red

Reminds me what to do before I'm . . .

"See you . . .

Touch you . . .

Feel you . . .

Tell you . . ."

Kidneythieves – "Before I'm Dead"

End Notes: The Crow: Salvation inspired Robin's answer to Gizmo's question "Where the hell did you come from?" Ashe's poem in The Crow: City of Angels was the basis for Robin's poem; I just replaced "joy," "letter," and "boy" with "mirth," "wedding," and "birth."

"Kon," as Wonder Girl referred to Superboy, is short for "Kon-El," the Kryptonian name Superman gave him.

Robin's back with the Titans --- for now. How will he reconnect with his old friends, let alone his lost love Starfire? And what does Slade intend to do to make Robin his apprentice again?


	4. Black Fire Rekindled

"The Crow: Black Robin"

Chapter 4: "Black Fire Rekindled"

Disclaimer: I do not own either Teen Titans or The Crow, but I'd love to. Sadly, the world doesn't run on "I'd love to"; otherwise, I'd be a lot better off than I am now.

Author's note: Now we get to Robin interacting with his old teammates and getting to know the new Titans. However, the major focus will be the romance between Robin and Starfire, as well as some jealousy on Raven's part.

"How can you see into my eyes like open doors?

Leading you down into my core where I've become so numb

Without a soul

My spirit sleeping somewhere cold

Until you find it there and lead it . . . back home.

"(Wake me up)

Wake me up inside

(I can't wake up)

Wake me up inside

(Save me)

Call my name and save me from the dark

(Wake me up)

Bid my blood to run

(I can't wake up)

Before I come undone

(Save me)

Save me from the nothing I've become.

"Now that I know what I'm without

You can't just leave me

Breathe into me and make me real

Bring me to life.

"(Wake me up)

Wake me up inside

(I can't wake up)

Wake me up inside

(Save me)

Call my name and save me from the dark

(Wake me up)

Bid my blood to run

(I can't wake up)

Before I come undone

(Save me)

Save me from the nothing I've become

Bring me to life.

"(I've been living a lie, there's nothing inside)

Bring me to life.

"Frozen inside without your touch,

Without your love, darling,

Only you are the life among the dead.

"All this time I can't believe I couldn't see

Kept in the dark but you were there in front of me

I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems

Got to open my eyes to everything

Without a thought, without a voice, without a soul

Don't let me die here

(There must be something more!)

Bring me to life.

"(Wake me up)

Wake me up inside

(I can't wake up)

Wake me up inside

(Save me)

Call my name and save me from the dark

(Wake me up)

Bid my blood to run

(I can't wake up)

Before I come undone

(Save me)

Save me from the nothing I've become

Bring me to life.

"I've been living a lie, there's nothing inside!!

Bring me to life

Bring me to life."

Evanescence – "Bring Me to Life"

Robin held Starfire in his arms, basking in her warmth. For a long time, nothing was said; they just basked in each other's presence.

"Your eyes," she finally said, looking up at him. "They are so beautiful."

"So are yours," Robin replied. "I've missed seeing them."

Beast Boy and Cyborg came up to them. "Robin! You're alive!" Beast Boy shouted.

"Not quite," Robin replied.

"Well, you're back," Cyborg amended. "And I have to ask --- what the hell are you on?!"

Robin just gave Cyborg a withering stare, releasing Starfire from his embrace.

Cyborg looked right into that stare, not backing down. "You crushed Cinderblock to dust, you left Jinx inside a space center that would explode less than thirty seconds, and I think you just killed Gizmo!"

"Yeah, I get that you're pissed off big-time," Beast Boy added. "If I came back after a year of being dead, I'd be mad, too. But it's not like you can just go around killing people, even if they are criminals."

"He was already dead," Robin replied. "He died the moment he signed on with Slade. They're all dead. It's only through my good graces that they're still walking around."

Raven, Superboy, and Wonder Girl hung back.

"So that's Robin?" Superboy asked. "Dunno, but I figured he'd be taller, the way you all talked about him."

"That's him without a doubt, Superboy," Raven replied.

"Yeah, well, I suppose _you'd_ know, keeping him a secret from the rest of us," Superboy snapped back.

Raven just glared at the Boy of Steel.

Wonder Girl stepped between the two. "Hey, cool it. Raven had a good reason for not telling us."

"Oh, yeah, because the Dead Boy Wonder didn't want anyone knowing, not even the girl he supposedly loves," Superboy retorted.

Upon hearing this, Robin stalked over to Superboy, icy violet-blue meeting heated sky blue.

Superboy got no warning before Robin punched him in the face, sending him flying into a wall. He flew up and at Robin, who met his flying tackle with a grip on his wrists that gave him sufficient leverage to fall backward and kick-flip Superboy. Superboy righted himself in midair and telekinetically shoved Robin. Robin landed on one of the crates and somersaulted into the air, his foot meeting Superboy's chest.

"So, who are you?" Robin asked. "Superman's kid brother? Second cousin?"

"Clone," Superboy replied. "Hope you don't mind getting your ass kicked by one, dead boy."

Just as they were about to resume hostilities, Starfire stepped between them. "Please stop. I do not wish to see you inflict harm upon each other."

Upon seeing the pleading expression in Starfire's eyes, Robin opened his hands, his posture relaxing somewhat. Superboy dropped his fists as well.

"Good thing you stopped them, Star," Cyborg said.

"Yeah, besides, if they're going to be fighting, we need time to sell tickets," Beast Boy added.

Robin and Superboy both gave Beast Boy odd expressions, and another memory took hold for Robin.

"_Jailbreak?__ I don't see any jailbreak,_" Beast Boy had said after the Titans had foiled Cinderblock's distracting jailbreak.

"_None of us would have seen one if Cyborg hadn't messed up!_" Robin had exclaimed.

"_Me? I messed up nothing!_" Cyborg had retorted. "_You got in my way!_"

"_You were too far forward, and Cinderblock got away because of it!_" Robin had yelled back.

"_You saying this is my fault?!_" Cyborg had asked.

"_Want me to say it again?_" Robin had replied.

"_Stop!_" Starfire had pleaded. "_No more mean-talking._"

"_Yeah, if you two are going to fight, we need time to sell tickets,_" Beast Boy had quipped.

"_Cinderblock escaped,_" Raven had stated."_No amount of yelling will change that. So stop acting like idiots and let's go home._"

"I guess not that much has changed since I died," Robin said.

"Except for Slade leading a criminal mega-syndicate and your old buddy Nightwing forming his own team, nothing," Cyborg said.

"I see that you've got two new members," Robin said.

"I'm Wonder Girl," the blonde teen Amazon said. "You've already met Superboy, although your fists were talking more than you actually did."

"Hey, Robin," Superboy said. "I didn't really mean anything by what I said earlier, it's just that ---"

"His mouth opens before his brain can catch up to it," Wonder Girl finished. Superboy had the dignity to look slightly embarrassed at that.

"We'd better get back to the Tower," he said.

So they walked out of the warehouse. Fortunately, Robin had gone out the back door before spilling Gizmo's blood, so the Titans did not have to see the gruesome sight of Gizmo's corpse next to a blood painting of a crow.

"So what's with that crow that's with you?" Beast Boy asked.

"The crow's my link between this world and the next," Robin replied.

"What was it like?" Superboy asked.

"What was what like?" Robin asked.

"When you got out of your grave and all," Superboy replied.

Robin remembered that first moment when he had awoke, feeling the earth pressing in on him from all sides, suffocating him.

"_No way,_" he had said to himself. "_If this is one of Slade's sick plans, I'm not going to let him succeed!_" He had banged furiously on the coffin lid, breaking it open. Too panicked to marvel at his newfound strength, he had climbed up through the earth, forcing his way back up to the surface.

He had arisen from the dirt and, feeling a sudden agonizing pain, screamed.

"I'd rather not talk about it," Robin said.

"Ok," Superboy conceded.

Raven hadn't said anything at all since seeing Robin in action. Her insides (mental, not physical) were spiraling in torment.

_Starfire's not scared of Robin, now is she?_ she sneered to her evil side.

_So what?_ her inner evil replied. _Looks like he's not all yours now, is he?_

_Just like a dark fairy tale,_ Raven thought, somewhat bitterly. _Handsome prince dies saving beautiful longhaired princess and comes back as a black knight to protect her._

"Robin?" Starfire asked.

"Yes, Star?" Robin replied.

"May I speak to you in private?" Starfire asked.

"Sure," Robin replied.

Raven watched them go, with a pang of jealousy in her heart.

"Looks like somebody's jealous," Wonder Girl said in a singsong voice. She took Raven's wrist and pulled her aside.

"Why should I be?" Raven asked. "He's always loved Starfire. He died protecting _her._"

"I'm sure he'd have done the same for any of you," Wonder Girl assured her.

"But Slade shot at Starfire," Raven replied. "It was her he intended to kill because her death would have crushed his spirit most."

"You're jealous," Wonder Girl stated.

"So what if I am?" Raven replied. "I can't do anything about it. Even now, their love is as strong as ever."

"Then I suggest you find yourself a new love," Wonder Girl said. She caught the bemused expression on Raven's face and smiled. "It's not like you can spend forever pining after a boy whom you admit can't ever return your feelings. And cute as he is, even with the freaky makeup, he's still a boy."

Meanwhile, Robin and Starfire were together.

"Robin?" Starfire prompted.

_After the Titans had foiled Slade's attempt to steal a computer chip, Robin had been in his investigation room, brooding._

_Starfire had gotten hurt. That miserable android had shot her when all she'd wanted to do was persuade it to surrender._

_Slade.__ It had been all his fault that Starfire had gotten hurt._

_Starfire had come in, trying to coax him out. Robin had refused her company, saying that he needed to work, to find out something that would help him figure out who Slade was so he could stop him. He'd closed the door on her._

Robin began to cry, but held back his tears for fear of ruining the makeup Raven had adorned his face with. However, Starfire saw his tears.

"Are you upset by me, Robin?" she asked.

"No," Robin replied. "I'm upset that I shut you out for so long." He held her slim-fingered golden hands in his black-gloved ones. "I'm so sorry. I should have told you how I felt. I love you, Koriand'r."

"And I love you . . . Tim," Starfire replied.

For the first time since they'd known each other, their lips met in a sweet, loving kiss. Robin's fingers entwined in Starfire's silky crimson hair, while Starfire's fingers stroked his dark hair.

As they kissed, Robin's mind was filled with Starfire's memories. He felt her pain when he'd shut her off to investigate Slade, her fear that he would come to like Blackfire better than her, her gratitude to him for teaching her about Earth, her anger and guilt that Robin had died to protect her, and the love that permeated it all.

When the kiss finally broke, Robin smiled. Perhaps "setting things right" didn't have to just mean finishing Slade.

"Star?" Robin asked.

"Yes, Robin?" Starfire replied.

"Would you like to go out on a date with me?" Robin asked.

Starfire hugged Robin tightly. "I would love to share time with you as lovers!"

"You know," Raven said after finding Robin, "if you and Starfire are going to go out, you'll be very noticeable in that makeup."

"You're the one who put it on me," Robin replied. "Besides, we used to go out in costume all the time, anyway."

"I can cast a glamour on you," Raven said. "A spell that will cloak your appearance. I can tailor it so that no one will see the makeup."

"Ok," Robin conceded.

Raven waved a glowing hand over his face. "Now look at yourself."

She gave him a hand mirror and he looked at his reflection. It was his face, all right.

"Thanks," he said.

"You're welcome," Raven replied, smiling. "Have fun."

The smile momentarily disconcerted Robin. Then he shrugged it off and went to join Starfire, who couldn't believe her eyes when she saw him.

_He's so beautiful,_ she thought, taking in all his features. The lovely, almost feminine face, the shining pale amethyst-sapphire eyes, and his lips, which were so perfectly formed that she wondered how she had been able to keep from kissing him.

The first place they went to was a trendy little restaurant. However, after they got there, fans of Starfire's modeling work accosted them.

"Kory Anders!" a girl exclaimed, holding out a pen and fashion magazine with Starfire's image on it. "Would you please sign this for me? I'm such a big fan of yours and I'd love it if you signed this!"

"I would be delighted," Starfire replied and signed her name on it.

After the girl went away, Robin smiled. "Kory Anders?"

"After I started modeling, a reporter could not quite understand my name and transcribed it as 'Kory Anders,'" Starfire replied. "I decided to keep it as my Earth name."

"It's lovely," Robin said.

They quickly found a table and a waitress soon arrived to take their orders. Actually, Starfire ordered. Robin didn't, as he didn't quite feel the need to eat and he wasn't sure his not-living body could digest food.

After eating, they left the restaurant, unaware that they were being watched by a couple of Slade's androids. Slade had built special video links into them so that he could see everything they saw.

The next place they went to was a new nightclub that had opened up by the name of Fire's Star. Once they entered, pounding dance music filled their ears.

"I have perfected my dancing skills over the past year," Starfire said. She smiled. "Would you like to see how they've improved?"

"Sure," Robin replied, smiling back.

Starfire waded into the throng and began to dance, her hips rolling sensuously to the beat of the music. Robin watched, awed by her incredible beauty. No, the word beautiful alone wasn't quite sufficient to describe her. Perhaps exquisite would do better, when he thought of her gorgeous emerald eyes, the silky scarlet waterfall that was her hair, the soft golden-tan skin . . . how that purple top and micro-miniskirt accentuated her sexy curves, and how those thigh-high purple boots clung to her long, gorgeous legs.

One year. One year since he'd been torn away from her. He knew he didn't have very long to stay in this world. So he smiled. Why not make the most of it.

He went into the crowd, making his way to Starfire and dancing with her. "I am glad that you could join me, Robin."

"I'm glad to be with you, too," Robin replied. He wrapped his arms around her, his hands on her hips. Starfire's arms were wrapped around him as well, her hands meeting around his neck. They moved to the music as one, their hearts beating with the music.

After dancing at the nightclub, Robin and Starfire stopped at a playground.

"Want me to push you on the swing?" Robin asked, smiling.

"I would like that," Starfire replied, and she sat on a swing, holding onto the chains. Robin pushed her and she glided gracefully through the air.

They were like this for a while, Robin pushing and Starfire swinging. Finally, Robin got onto the swing next to her. "Wanna see who can go higher?"

"That would be fun," Starfire replied.

They moved as far back as the swing would allow them to and then swung as high as they could. Starfire let out a giggle of happiness. As always, her happiness proved infectious and Robin found himself giggling, too.

At the highest point of his swing, Robin did the impossible. He flipped over the swing bar!

"Robin?" Starfire asked, stopping. "Robin, where did you go?"

"Boo," Robin's voice said from behind her. Starfire jumped up from the swing in surprise.

"Robin!" she exclaimed with a mixture of happiness and relief. "You startled me. I thought you had vanished into thin air!"

"No," Robin replied, smiling impishly. "I just jumped over the swing bar."

"But I thought such a thing could not be accomplished," Starfire said.

"Not by most people," Robin amended. He looked up at the moon. "I'm glad I could have this night with you."

"I am glad as well," Starfire said, smiling.

It was late when Robin and Starfire returned to Titans Tower.

"Everyone must have gone to sleep by now," Robin said. "We should, too."

"Yes," Starfire agreed as they made their way upstairs. "However, there is one thing about you that makes me curious."

"What is it?" Robin asked.

"When Raven explained to us about your powers, she said that you could not feel pain," Starfire replied. A sly smile made its way to her face and Robin could almost swear she was channeling Blackfire. "But can you feel pleasure?"

Those five words, spoken in that dulcet voice, awakened something inside him. He smiled. "Care to find out?"

They were in Starfire's room, passionately kissing, their hands gently moving over each other's bodies. They made their way to her bed and sat on it, or rather, Robin sat on it. Starfire was half on the bed and half on his lap.

Robin removed Starfire's neck guard, revealing that her midriff-baring purple top was a basic spaghetti-strap style.

"I love you, Kory," he whispered. "I love everything about you. Your voice, your body, your lips, your eyes, your personality --- everything, my golden angel."

"I love you, too, Tim," Starfire whispered, removing his cape. She stripped off his gloves and studded wrist-bracelets, then the top of his costume. "I always have. You are kind, patient, and giving. Thank you for giving me your heart, my dark angel."

"You're welcome," Robin whispered.

Soon enough, both Robin and Starfire were nude. Robin's lips had moved to her neck. "Don't worry, Koriand'r." He gently bit her at the place where her shoulder met her neck. "It'll hurt at first." Then he began to suck at that spot, savoring her moans of pleasure. "But you'll enjoy it."

With that said, Robin and Starfire consummated their love for the first time.

Meanwhile, Raven lay in bed, feeling the waves of love and sexual energy emanating from Starfire's room.

"Be happy," she whispered. "Be happy."

"In this darkness . . .

Troubled water . . .

Lies a flicker . . .

Of hope's fire . . .

"Come to your senses . . .

Wager a risk . . .

I won't let go . . .

Waiting for this . . .

"It's wonderful . . .

Reality . . .

I watch as . . .

This golden bird flies free . . .

"In this ash-vault . . .

A rose garden . . .

These walls never . . .

See me just to . . .

"Save me!

Save me!

Save me!

Save me. . . ."

Kittie – "Safe"

End Notes: I've brought Robin and Starfire back together, but it's not going to last very long. Slade will enact his plan to get Robin back in his clutches, and you'll just have to wait to see what Robin does.

Also, the first flashback was derived from the scene in "Divide and Conquer" where Robin and Cyborg argue. In the comics, Raven was an empath, meaning she could feel and manipulate the emotions of others, which is why she could sense what Robin and Starfire were up to.

I may write an extended version of the Robin/Starfire love scene, if you like, but you won't find it on this site. You'll find it on Adultfanfiction and Mediaminer, but add dot-com to Adultfanfiction and add dot-org to Mediaminer. I like knowing what you think, so please review.


	5. Nightmare Disharmony

"The Crow: Black Robin"

Chapter 5: "Nightmare Disharmony"

Disclaimer: I'm sick of writing disclaimers. You should know by now that I don't own Teen Titans or The Crow.

Author's note: Now is where Slade's plan begins. Let's see what he'll do to our dear Dead Boy Wonder. By the way, I saw the second season premiere of Teen Titans, and that episode is now another one of my favorites. Robin totally kicks ass as Nightwing. That still doesn't prove that he's Dick Grayson, as that's _twenty_ years from now and the producers aren't saying which Robin it is.

"These walls were built for you

Your garden's never dry

Anmorata,

Your secrets never die.

"Feel it feed me

Feel it feed me

Feel it feed me

Feel it feed me.

"Anmorata,

The men all loved you so

Anmorata,

How much you'll never know.

"Feel it feed me

Feel it feed me

Feel it feed me

Feel it feed me.

"I'll bring you home

And through my yard you'll see

And then you'll know

What it is like for me.

"Anmorata,

Take me where I need to be

Anmorata,

Breathe the life into me.

"Feel it feed me

Feel it feed me

Feel it feed me

Feel it feed me.

"Feel it feed me

Feel it feed me

Feel it feed me

Feel it feed me."

Switchblade Symphony – "Anmorata"

Slade watched the video feed that his androids had provided him with. He watched Robin and Starfire dine together. He watched them dance in the nightclub.

"So you're still as graceful as ever, little black songbird," he purred.

He watched them in the playground, playing on the swings without a care in the world. Finally, he watched them return to Titans Tower. Fortunately, he'd equipped his androids' video links with a zoom-in option, so he'd had them zoom in on the windows to watch Robin and Starfire.

He saw them go into her room. He saw them make love. Granted, he'd shut off the link once he saw what they were going to do, but he knew enough.

The thought of the alien redhead touching Robin in that way . . . the thought of her lips on his --- it made him nearly insane with jealousy.

"Robin," he said in a tone between a purr and a hiss. "You will be mine. You will be mine, if I have to kill every last one of your friends and your alien paramour to make you mine."

Starfire woke up, sleeping upside down like she always did but on her side.

"Was it only a dream?" she wondered. Then she realized two things. One, she was naked. Second, someone was embracing her from behind, their arms wrapped around her waist.

"It's no dream, my precious Star," a familiar and beloved voice replied from behind her. The owner of that voice kissed her shoulder gently. "Sleep well?"

Starfire turned around in her lover's arms so that she could face him. She ran her fingers through his messy black locks. "I slept quite wonderfully." She giggled. "Of course, that may be because our lovemaking was so strenuous." She giggled again. "You are very energetic."

The boy in front of her just smiled. "That's because I love you so much."

"And I you, Robin," Starfire said.

Robin rubbed his nose against hers and in the process their lips accidentally touched. Both took full advantage of this and kissed each other passionately. Robin licked Starfire's lips, silently asking for permission to enter. Starfire's lips parted, and his tongue slid past them, exploring the inside of her mouth. She reciprocated with her own tongue, which proceeded to "do battle" with his.

Then came the call for breakfast.

"Robin, Starfire, you mind not screwing each other till you've had your breakfast?!" Superboy shouted from downstairs.

Robin and Starfire blushed. "We really must get dressed and join our friends," Starfire said.

"Yeah," Robin agreed. Although all he wanted to do was lie on the bed with Starfire, as she didn't pull the covers over herself when she slept, and he didn't really need to eat, he figured he might as well make an appearance.

To that end, he and Starfire went to the shower to clean themselves.

Actually . . .

"I think I'll let you go first," Robin said.

"Why?" Starfire asked, puzzled. "Do lovers not share cleaning facilities?"

"Yeah," Robin replied, "but if I went in there with you, it'd take us forever to get out." He smiled slightly to get the meaning across.

"Oh," Starfire said, understanding. "Very well, then." She went into the shower. Robin turned away so that the sight of her nude silhouette wouldn't tempt him.

_As if the thought of her being naked wasn't temptation enough,_ he thought.

After Starfire was finished, Robin went in. The water felt refreshingly warm against his cool skin. He was tempted to linger, but Superboy would probably come up after him in his impatience and Robin wasn't particularly in the mood to thrash him again. So he made his shower quick.

When he got out, he got dressed in his modified Red X costume. Then he and Starfire came downstairs.

"It's about time," Superboy said.

Robin just shot him a dirty look, releasing the glamour that kept his white-and-black-painted face disguised.

"Don't worry, Robin," Raven said. "You can resume the glamour anytime you want."

"Ok," Robin replied.

"Probably a good idea to do it now," Beast Boy suggested.

"Yeah, you look like a dead hooker with that makeup," Cyborg added.

"What is a 'hooker'?" Starfire asked.

Robin face-faulted. Then he got up, aiming a baleful stare at Cyborg.

"Someone who has people pay her, or him, to have sex with them," Wonder Girl replied. She shrugged nonchalantly. "Someone had to tell her."

"Oh," Starfire said. "We have such people on Tamaran as well."

"Guess that proves that the so-called oldest profession is universal," Beast Boy said.

"Only literally this time," Superboy added.

Everyone ate their breakfast with the exclusion of Robin, who did not eat at all.

"Why aren't you eating?" Superboy asked.

"I'm dead," Robin replied. "I don't know if my system can handle food."

"Fair enough," Superboy conceded. "More for me, then."

After breakfast was through, Starfire looked at the clock. "I must depart now. I have a modeling session in thirty minutes!"

"Have fun!" Wonder Girl said.

"Thank you very much, Wonder Girl," Starfire said. "I shall return soon, my friends and lover!" She flew away.

"So, Robin, how was it?" Beast Boy asked, smirking.

"That's none of your business," Robin replied.

"Finally, a male that _doesn't_ like to brag about his conquests," Raven said.

"Refreshing, isn't it, Rae?" Wonder Girl added.

"Quite," Raven replied.

Beast Boy had the dignity to look embarrassed, despite shooting a dirty look at Robin.

Meanwhile, Slade watched Starfire through his androids' "eyes." She was the perfect pawn for his plan. After all, if Robin had loved her enough to die for her, to come back from the dead for her, and even to kill for her, then he would certainly comply with his wishes.

All he had to do was bide his time.

"And then you will be mine, Robin," he said.

In a dark, dank cave underneath a stately mansion, a dark figure in cape and cowl brooded at a gigantic computer monitor.

That figure was known to many, hero and villain alike, as Batman.

At the moment, Batman was staring at the security footage of the exploded space center and the television news reports pertaining to it. Cinderblock had attacked the space center, attempting to breach it. The guards had been generally useless, up to the point where a boy dressed in black with his face covered in white foundation and black makeup around the eyes and lips showed up and beat the hell out of him. The reports said that the boy had been inhumanly strong and agile, and if the footage was to be believed, then he had been able to shatter Cinderblock with one punch.

The Batcomputer's monitor shifted to footage of inside the space center before it exploded. The mysterious boy had fought Jinx and had pinned her with X-shaped red bolts before leaving her to die in the trap that she herself had set for him.

The monitor shifted again, this time to footage of the foiled robbery in the tech district. Gizmo had beaten the six Teen Titans and was about to molest Starfire when a red shuriken slashed off his tentacle. The mysterious boy arrived yet again and he proceeded to give Gizmo a vicious thrashing. Then he dragged the diminutive brat genius outside.

Batman watched as the boy slashed Gizmo's throat, then waited until he had bled to death and used his blood to paint an image of a crow.

"The crow again," he said.

"Master Bruce, could it be that this young vigilante is obsessed with crows?" Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne's butler, asked.

Batman looked again, and saw a crow hovering over the boy. In fact, he noticed that the crow was with him all the time.

"No," Batman replied. He knew the truth about this boy and the crow that followed him. "It's something far less mundane."

In his younger days, when he had been traveling around the world acquiring the skills that he would need to take back the night from scum like the mugger that had killed his parents, Batman had heard legends about a crow. It was a spirit guide, carrying souls to the afterlife. Sometimes, though, a terrible injustice was involved in the person's death and the soul was burdened with sorrow. In those cases, the soul could be brought back to this world to set things right.

Batman also remembered that a soul returned by the crow was, for all intents and purposes, invincible. It could not feel pain or die, and it would heal from any and all injuries. In addition, its strength and speed would increase to unnatural levels. However, the resurrected soul had one weakness.

The crow was the soul's link between this world and the next. If it were to be injured or killed, then the soul would be powerless.

"Robin," Batman said. He rose from his seat.

"Master Bruce?" Alfred asked.

"I'm going to find a couple of old partners," Batman replied, walking to the Batmobile.

In Titans Tower, the Titans were training while Starfire was out modeling. Beast Boy, Cyborg, Raven, Superboy, and Wonder Girl were filling Robin in on what had happened in the past year.

"So let me get this straight," Robin said. "Terra was a spy for Slade the entire time?"

"Yeah, she was," Beast Boy replied, uncharacteristically glum. He shifted into a gorilla and punched a holographic Slade android.

Robin kicked off a wall and kicked off the head of another Slade android. "I'm sorry if I brought up bad memories for you. You must have cared about her a lot."

"Yeah," Beast Boy confirmed after shifting back to human form.

"So, Superboy, how'd you join the Titans?" Robin asked as he dodged laser bursts from more Slade androids.

"Superman dropped me here so that I could learn to interact with people my age," Superboy replied as he telekinetically shattered the guns of some Slade androids. "He figured that if I did, I wouldn't be so impulsive and hardheaded."

"No such luck," Wonder Girl said as she used her bracelets to block some more Slade androids' blasts, drawing a few snickers from Beast Boy and Cyborg and an amused expression from Raven, who blocked an android with a telekinetic shield. Superboy just let out an "hmph" of playful derision.

"And you, Wonder Girl?" Robin asked, flipping out of the way of a Slade android.

"Wonder Woman was my idol and my mother's best friend," Wonder Girl replied. "One day, I ended up meeting Zeus, the king of the Greek gods, and I demanded that he give me powers."

"Whoa," Robin said. "You demanded powers from a _god?_" He smiled in approval. "You're brave."

"Thank you," Wonder Girl replied as she deflected a laser blast from one Slade android into another, knocking him down for the count. "Anyway, Zeus was impressed enough with my boldness that he gave me powers of my own. Then Wonder Woman trained me and once I was ready, I came here."

Superboy just watched the exchange between them, bristling with jealousy. _Does he have to get _all _the girls?_ he wondered.

"Kon-El, look out!" Wonder Girl shouted, flying at a Slade android that was sneaking up behind him and tackling it.

"Thanks," Superboy replied as he punched another android.

"You really oughtta be more careful," Robin suggested as he fired an X-bolt like a shuriken, knocking a blaster out of an android's hand.

"I'll ask for your advice when I need it, Dead Boy Wonder," Superboy snapped back. He landed, sighing in annoyed disgust. "End simulation."

Instantly, the androids and warehouse vanished, leaving behind the gray walls of the training room.

"What's _your_ problem?" Robin asked.

"You!" Superboy replied. "What are you trying to do, take over? You're not the leader of this team anymore, so stop acting like it!"

"I have no interest in taking over," Robin said, sounding like a male version of Raven. "Either as leader of the Titans or in Wonder Girl's heart." The last five words were spoken so softly they were almost inaudible.

Not quite inaudible to Superboy, though. "Huh?"

"I'm serious," Robin confirmed.

"Kon, sweetheart, I love you," Wonder Girl said. "You might be a stubborn pain in the ass, but I love you. Robin's cute, but dead boys aren't really my type." She smiled. "I prefer cute _living_ boys."

Superboy blushed. "Sorry I got so jealous, Cassie." He hugged her.

"It's cute, really," Wonder Girl said.

"I love you, too," Superboy whispered.

"Man, I'm beat," Cyborg said.

"Yeah, those androids might have been holograms, but I'm totally worked," Beast Boy agreed.

They exited the training room. "Starfire should be back soon," Raven said.

"Try not to make so much noise this time," Superboy said. "I hardly got any sleep last night."

Starfire was returning from another modeling job. It was enjoyable, and she had a spring in her step and a renewed lightness in her flight due to Robin's return. She knew he'd have to return to the other side once he defeated Slade, but she was happy that she had been able to express her feelings for him.

So caught up she was in her thoughts of Robin that she didn't see the large cloth-covered hand in time to keep it from covering her mouth and nose. She struggled, but whatever was on the cloth quickly subdued her and she slumped, unconscious.

However, this did not go unseen or unnoticed. The crow bore witness to the deed, and it was through its eyes that Robin saw it.

"Starfire!" Robin exclaimed.

"She's back?" Beast Boy asked.

"No, he's taken her!" Robin replied, running down to where the Titans kept their vehicles. He jumped on Superboy's motorcycle and started it.

"Wait, that's my bike!" Superboy exclaimed.

Robin said nothing as he drove away.

"Let's take the T-Car," Cyborg said.

Robin pursued the large black car that Starfire's kidnapper was getting away in, the crow flying over him. Robin saw through the crow's eyes, and he saw a familiar longhaired brute in the backseat with an unconscious Starfire.

"Mammoth," he growled, his lilac-azure eyes blazing with rage.

The sunroof opened and a Slade android emerged with a laser rifle aimed right at Robin. The android didn't hesitate in firing. Robin swerved to the right, then to the left when the android fired again. He kept swerving as the android kept firing.

Meanwhile, Cyborg was driving the T-Car with Superboy riding shotgun and Beast Boy sandwiched between Wonder Girl and Raven.

"Hey!" Superboy shouted to Robin. "Don't wreck the paint job!"

Robin just kept swerving as the android kept firing.

"Forget Superboy's paint job!" Cyborg yelled. "Just try not to get us killed dodging those blasts!"

The large black car finally drove into a familiar dark building. It was Slade's base, the very place where he had forced Robin to become his apprentice and the very place where he had killed him.

Robin turned and drove up the side of an opposite building onto its roof. He revved the engine of Superboy's motorcycle and drove full speed ahead, leaping across the gap between the two buildings and crashing through the skylight. Immediately, he was confronted by an army of Slade's androids, who didn't hesitate to open fire on him.

Robin got into a surfing position on the motorcycle seat as the androids fired. He flipped off the bike and fired X-bolts at the androids, disabling several dozen of them. He landed in a crouch with one hand on the ground and the other in the air as the motorcycle crashed and exploded behind him.

He rose from his crouch to his full height, such as it was, and glared at the androids. They fired on him, and he just stood there and let the blasts hit him, laughing as his wounds sealed themselves within seconds. He didn't even _feel_ any pain from their laser fire.

"Enough," he hissed and leaped into the air, firing more disabling X-bolts at the androids.

Suddenly, a blast of blue plasma energy ripped through an android. Several others found their weapons suddenly shattered. A black glow surrounded a pair of androids and smashed them together, scrambling their circuits. A green rhinoceros tore through a small battalion of androids, and laser bursts bounced off a pair of silver bracelets.

A trio of silver disks landed in the midst of a small group of androids and exploded, blowing them to bits. Arrows shot forth from a quiver, embedding themselves in the chests of five androids and exploding. A mysterious gas enveloped more androids, blinding them enough for them to be felled by a silver-and-violet-clad girl that teleported into their midst. A blur of white and red ran circles around the androids, making them shoot each other as they missed it. Plasma energy knives tore through several androids and plasma energy shields blocked their blasts.

Finally, a black bat-shaped boomerang knocked the laser rifles out of the hands of an entire circle of androids.

Robin looked around in surprise. "Batman? Nightwing?" Then he looked at the Teen Titans and Outsiders and asked everybody, "What are you doing here?"

"What, you thought we'd leave you to do this by yourself?" Nightwing asked as he withdrew his escrima sticks and smacked a pair of androids with them.

"Starfire's our friend, you know," Beast Boy said. "'Sides, we couldn't let you get all the credit for finishing off Slade."

Batman said only three words to Robin.

"Go get her."

Robin nodded silent thanks and ran toward a door after Starfire, the crow flying behind him, having avoided the laser fire of the androids.

"We'll talk about the bike later!" Superboy shouted half-jokingly after the black-clad dark avenger.

Robin ran through Slade's base searching for Starfire when he ran afoul of Mammoth.

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?" Mammoth asked.

"I am," Robin replied, a grim smile forming on his white-and-black-painted features. "And you're going to be, too."

"What do you see in the dark

When the demons come for you?

"If only you could have seen

How fucked up my life used to be

Then everything starts to change

Supposedly healing my pain

I never thought I'd feel this way

I never thought I'd see a day

I'd run away from anything or anywhere or anyone

It's all these demons haunting me

It's all these little things trapped inside of me

Releasing me from all of my sin.

"It's taken me all of my anger

And taken me all of my hate

To learn how my life came together

Releasing the demons again.

"And now I look through my mind's eye

And see where my past needs to rest

It's always disturbed by these voices

That echo inside of my head

Another way that I can hide

Another reason to crawl inside and get away

From everything and everywhere and everyone

NO!

It's all these demons haunting me

It's all these little things trapped inside of me

Releasing me from all of my sin.

"It's taken me all of my anger

And taken me all of my hate

To learn how my life came together

Releasing the demons . . . again.

"Facing the days as I grow into my own

Loving and hating's the same

And threefold I told you

It comes back with laughter

Over and over again

It's coming back.

"It's taken me all of my anger

And taken me all of my hate

To learn how my life came together . . .

"Releasing . . .

Releasing the demons again . . .

Releasing the demons again . . .

Releasing the demons again . . .

Releasing the demons again . . .

Releasing the demons!"

Godsmack – "Releasing the Demons"

End Notes: Superboy and Wonder Girl are apparently a couple in the current Teen Titans comics. Also, it was just too easy to incorporate Slade/Robin slash. Sorry.

Now we're set for the conclusion of "The Crow: Black Robin." Being an undead messiah of justice should give Robin the edge against Slade, right? Not quite. Slade knows enough about the crow to know his Achilles heel.


	6. Requiem of Darkness

"The Crow: Black Robin"

Chapter 6: "Requiem of Darkness"

Disclaimer: Teen Titans belongs to DC Comics and Warner Brothers. The Crow belongs to James O'Barr.

Author's notes: This is the end for the Black Robin. Will his vengeance be completed, or will Slade find a way to turn the tables? Also, to those of you who responded favorably to the possibility of my writing an extended version of the Robin/Starfire love scene, it is a certainty.

"For everything you do,

I'd like to swallow you

And every day I'm gonna blame you

Even if you justify

Every fucking bullshit lie

It only makes me want to break you.

"You pull me down

And you crucify my name

You make me insane

It's broken now

Don't ever look my way

Don't even think I'm playing.

"'Cause I fucking hate you

You're such a liar

And I love to hate you

You're all the same to me.

"When you repeatedly

Take advantage of me

The only thought I get of you sickens me

Everybody knows you're fake

You're everything I fucking hate

And I'm everything that you could never be.

"You pull me down

And you crucify my name

You make me insane

It's broken now

Don't ever look my way

Don't even think I'm playing.

"'Cause I fucking hate you

You're such a liar

And I love to hate you

You're all the same to me.

"I fucking hate you

You're such a liar

And I love to hate you

You're all the same to me.

"(Fuck you)

(Fuck you)

(Fuck you)

"You pull me down

And you crucify my name

You make me insane

It's broken now

Don't ever look my way

Don't even think I'm playing.

"'Cause I fucking hate you

You're such a liar

And I love to hate you

You're all the same to me.

"And I fucking hate you

You're such a liar

And I love to hate you

You're all the same to me.

"Fuck you (fuck you)

Fuck you (fuck you)

Fuck you (fuck you)

Fuck you (fuck you)."

Godsmack – "I Fucking Hate You"

"I'm gonna pound you six feet under," Mammoth growled.

Robin just chuckled sinisterly. "Then by all means try."

Mammoth charged at Robin and punched downward, intending to make good on his threat. However, Robin just leaped to the side, flipped off the wall, and kicked Mammoth into the opposite wall. The longhaired giant just removed his head from the small crater it'd made in the wall and charged at Robin again. This time, Robin caught his fist in his hand. Despite the vast difference in the size of their hands, Robin was holding him with no problem.

Mammoth attempted to punch with the other hand, but Robin caught that, too.

"You're strong for a little punk," Mammoth said.

"And you're weak for a big punk," Robin retorted.

"Weak?!" Mammoth protested. He pushed forward, trying to gain the upper hand. However, Robin refused to grant Mammoth even a millimeter.

"You're pathetic," Robin said. "Now let's end this." He swung both legs up in a vicious kick that sent Mammoth's head flying up, but not off his head. He let go of him, freeing him to stumble backward.

Mammoth tilted his head back down, and his lip was split and bleeding.

"You made me bleed," he growled.

"No shit, Sherlock," Robin mocked. "Now I'm going to make you die." He leaped at Mammoth and punched him right in the chest with a force that collapsed his rib cage around his lungs and heart.

Mammoth collapsed, choking. His lungs had been crushed by Robin's blow. He couldn't breathe.

"As much as I'd enjoy watching you die, I have more important things to do," Robin said coldly. He resumed his search for Starfire, leaving the dying Mammoth behind.

Inside his war room, Slade observed his prisoner, who currently had her hands bound behind her back by titanium cables. Her legs were bound to the chair she was sitting in by the same type of cables. Her helpless position didn't stop her from glaring angrily at Slade with her emerald eyes.

"You will not get away with this," she said. "Robin will never serve you."

"He will," Slade retorted. "If he loves you as much as I think he does, he will do whatever I say."

"That is what you tried before," the prisoner stated. "And look at the result."

"Yes," Slade conceded. "I did end up killing him, but I didn't want to. He was supposed to be my successor, my heir. For a year, I thought you had ruined that for me, but now he is within my reach again."

"You will not touch him," the prisoner said.

"I think I shall, Starfire," Slade said. "For I know his two great weaknesses: you and the crow that accompanies him."

"The crow is what gives Robin his power," Starfire protested.

"Yes, and that is why it is his weakness," Slade explained. "For if the crow should be injured or killed, then Robin will be mortal again."

"He will still defeat you, Slade," Starfire said with absolute conviction.

"We'll see," Slade replied coldly. Then the door opened. "Speak of the black songbird himself."

"Slade," Robin hissed in an ice-cold voice. "Let go of her."

"Ah, Robin," Slade purred. "So good to meet you again. I watched what you did to Cinderblock, Jinx, and Gizmo. Oh, and I believe my cameras recorded what you did to Mammoth. He must be dead by now." He turned to Starfire. "Would you like to see?"

Starfire glared. "If you think that will convince me to turn away from Robin, then as the humans say, 'do your worst.' I shall not fall prey to your schemes, and neither shall Robin!"

"If you're so sure," Slade said.

"You have two options, Slade," Robin said in the ice-cold tone he had recently mastered. "Of course, both of them end with your death. The first is, you let go of Starfire and I make it quick and painless. The second is, you refuse and I make it nice, slow, and agonizing. What will it be?"

"After a year of being dead, you still haven't learned anything," Slade said in mock-pitying tones. "Perhaps I'll have to beat it into you."

"Beat this," Robin retorted, and spin-flipped into the air, ending with a vicious kick to the side of Slade's masked face. The attack had come so fast that even Slade was taken aback.

"It appears your skills have improved," Slade purred. "Or perhaps that crow that always follows you has been assisting you."

Robin flipped again and landed with a vicious kick to Slade's chest. This time, Slade caught his ankle and tossed him. However, Robin merely flipped in midair and landed on one of the rotating gears in the room. He jumped off and tackled Slade, rolling and then throwing him.

"You're good, Robin," Slade said. "But I am better. I am far more experienced and I will not allow myself to be surprised again."

"We'll see," Robin replied.

The fight resumed with fists and feet clashing against each other. Slade blocked Robin's punch and when he countered, Robin blocked and ducked for a sweeping kick that would knock Slade's legs out from under him.

At least, that was how it was supposed to work.

In reality, Slade jumped over Robin's leg and kicked him in the back. At least, he would have if seeing through the crow's eyes hadn't alerted him to that attack. He whirled and grabbed Slade's leg, twisting hard. Slade had a choice: either let himself fall or hold on and get his leg broken.

Slade chose neither, spinning his body so that his leg would fall out of Robin's grip and kicking him with the other leg. Robin fell back, but turned his fall into a backward handspring. He then did a flying cartwheel that allowed him to deliver a swift, fierce kick to Slade's solar plexus.

The two warriors continued their fight. In Starfire's eyes, they were almost like dark gods --- one fighting to save those he loved, one fighting to achieve his evil goals.

Robin finally found himself knocked back onto a gear, which was rotating with another gear and his head was about to get crushed by both. He ducked Slade's punch and delivered one of his own right to Slade's masked face.

This had an unexpected effect. A crack formed in the one-eyed black-and-orange mask, a crack soon followed by others, and the mask fell apart.

The man revealed glared venomously at Robin, his one dark blue eye lurid with fury. The other "eye" was just an empty opaque orb. He had spiky dark brown hair and he seemed to be in his late thirties to mid-forties.

Starfire gaped in surprise and horror upon seeing what had become of Slade's right eye. Robin just stared in cold satisfaction.

"Now I know what you really look like," he said.

"Yes, you do," Slade replied coldly.

"You're still going to die," Robin said just as coldly. "So say your last prayers, if you think the benevolent creator will listen."

"You should think of doing the same," Slade retorted, and went at Robin again. Robin met him blow for blow, each strike inciting an equally vicious strike from him.

How was he supposed to win, Slade wondered, when he was up against an invincible ghost? Since Robin was already dead, he couldn't be killed, couldn't feel pain, and he'd recover from anything. Also, his strength, speed, and agility had increased to the point where he was every bit his equal, if not superior.

_No,_ Slade thought. _That ill-trained brat is _not _my superior. I will win. And I know exactly how to do it._

Slade pulled out a thermal laser and attached it to his arm, then fired. But not at Robin.

The lump of black feathers that fell to the ground provided the answer as to whom Slade had actually fired at.

Robin fell to the ground, feeling the shock of his powers leaving him as the crow bled.

"Not so tough without your little black bird, are you, Robin?" Slade purred. He stalked toward the crow and as Robin reached up to stop him, Slade viciously kicked him in the stomach, knocking the breath out of him. He walked to the crow and picked it up, then placed his mouth to its wound, drinking the crow's blood.

"What are you doing?" Robin asked in a voice that was weak yet filled with rage.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Slade asked mockingly. He turned to face Robin, who gasped in shock along with Starfire.

Black makeup ringed Slade's eyes with vertical lines above and below each one. His lips were black, with curving lines drawn from each corner. His face was deathly white.

"You-you-you . . ." Robin stuttered, unable to complete his sentence as he was so shocked.

"The crow's power is mine now," Slade said. "How ironic. You were relying on it to ensure your vengeance upon me, and now it shall give me my victory over you." In a blur of speed, he grabbed Robin and threw him into a wall. Robin moaned in once-forgotten pain as he felt several bones crack from the force of Slade's throw.

"He's even stronger now," he murmured. He got up from the ground, the pain not stopping him. He might be human again, but he wouldn't let that stop him from finishing Slade. With a yell of rage, he charged at Slade.

However, Robin was back to his mortal speed and strength, which meant nothing to Slade's crow-fueled power. Every attack was blocked and countered with a stronger attack. Robin was left with a bloody lip, the crimson mixing with the black of his lipstick and the white of his foundation.

"Robin . . ." Starfire murmured. Her eyes glowed green as she struggled in her binds. No matter how much the cables bit into her golden skin, she wouldn't let that stop her. Not with Robin's life at stake!

Slade delivered a vicious spin-kick to Robin's solar plexus, knocking the breath out of him. Robin collapsed to his knees.

"There you are," Slade intoned coldly. "Just the way I always wanted."

"I'll never give in to you, Slade," Robin snarled. He looked up at Slade, unbridled defiance in his pale purplish blue eyes. "I'd rather die."

"You already did," Slade replied. "Would you like to do it again?" He grabbed Robin by his neck and pulled him up. "I truly wish it didn't have to come to this. You and I would have made a splendid partnership. Since you insist on having your own way, and since you're so attached to your alien paramour, I'm afraid it has come to this. Farewell, Robin." Then with a twist of the wrist, he snapped Robin's neck.

It was at that moment that Starfire burst out of the titanium cables. "NO!!!" She flew at Slade, tackling him into a wall. "Monster! You have killed him!" A hail of punches, kicks, and starbolts rained upon Slade.

"It doesn't matter now," Slade replied coldly. "You've ruined everything for me. Again."

"And you have taken Robin away from me once more!" Starfire screamed, tears of sorrow and rage streaming down her face. She poured all her grief and righteous fury into beating Slade to death. However, the crow's power would not allow him to die so easily. Finally, he punched Starfire so hard that she landed right beside Robin.

"Robin," she whispered, pulling him close to her. "You cannot be gone. You came back once. So, please, come back again!" As she made this impassioned plea, her tears dripped onto Robin's face.

Robin's soul was floating in limbo, away from the earthly world. "Starfire . . ." he moaned. Then his voice grew stronger. "I will come back. I will not let Slade defeat me! _I will not let you defeat me, Slade!!!_"

With this, black fire formed around him in the shape of great wings and his spirit soared back into his body. His neck twisted itself back into place and his wounds all healed as his undead body rejuvenated itself. Then his eyes snapped open.

The Black Robin had returned.

And there would be hell to pay.

"Robin!" Starfire exclaimed in joyful relief.

Robin arose from Starfire's arms, hellish fury burning in his eyes.

"It can't be!" Slade exclaimed. "You're supposed to be dead!"

"Newsflash," Robin replied, his voice edged with cold confidence. "I'm already dead. And so are you." He leaped into a spinning cartwheel that ended with a brutal kick to Slade's chest. He did a one-handed cartwheel and kicked him again. He whirled for a roundhouse punch, and while Slade blocked it, Robin just spun for a hard elbow jab. He flipped over Slade while grabbing him and judo-tossed him into the gears.

Slade got up and ran at Robin, increasing the tempo of his fighting moves. However, Robin met him blow for blow, refusing to go down.

"I won't allow you to hurt my friends anymore," Robin snarled. "I won't allow you to hurt Starfire!" He accented that with a hard kick to the torso.

As the fight continued, Slade realized that he couldn't win. So he attempted to flee.

"Not so fast," Robin snarled, giving chase to Slade with Starfire flying behind him. Slade ran for the roof access, Robin and Starfire right behind him. Slade kicked the door open and ran out onto the roof. Robin and Starfire came out after him.

"How touching," Slade sneered. "The young lovers, together again."

"You will pay for what you have done, Slade," Starfire vowed. "You shall never harm another innocent again!"

"Sorry, Starfire, but I now have the same power as your beloved," Slade replied. "Meaning I'm just as invincible as he is."

"We'll still beat you, Slade," Robin declared. He reached underneath his black cape and withdrew the same blade he had used to kill Gizmo, only tempered and sharpened into a deadly katana. He shifted into a fighting stance and Starfire hovered in the air, hands glowing.

"Come on, then," Slade challenged.

Robin and Starfire went at Slade, Robin leading with the katana. Slade sidestepped the charge, but was assaulted by a double-fisted starbolt. The green energy wave slammed into him and pushed him toward the edge of the roof.

Robin slashed with the katana, cutting through Slade's Kevlar-lined black suit and the skin underneath. Slade just chuckled as the wound sealed.

"I didn't even feel that," he purred.

"Let's see if you can feel this!" Robin yelled and slashed again. This time, Slade caught the blade between his hands, holding it in place. Robin's response was to pull the blade hard out of his hands, slicing his palms in the process. However, the wounds only bled a little before closing. Robin swung again, and Slade moved aside, letting Robin land in a half-crouching kneeling position.

Starfire fired a barrage of starbolts at Slade, who dodged them all and leaped into the air for a vicious flying kick. However, Starfire blocked it and delivered a hard kick of her own, sending Slade falling back down to the rooftop. Robin whirled into the air and brought his fist down for a devastating impact on Slade's head. However, Slade dodged and his fist collided with the rooftop.

"Robin, Robin, we are evenly matched," Slade said. "You cannot stop me. You cannot hope to stop me. No matter what you do, you will never beat me."

"We'll see," Robin replied. Then he did something surprising. He sheathed his katana.

"You might as well," Slade said. "It's not like you could do anything to hurt me with that sword, even with your skills and powers."

Robin said nothing, just strode toward Slade.

"Robin?" Starfire wondered, landing on the rooftop.

Again, Robin said nothing, just striding toward Slade with hellfire burning in his eyes.

"What do you think you're doing?" Slade asked mockingly.

Still, Robin said nothing, continuing his inexorable march toward Slade. Finally, they were face to face. Robin stared at Slade grimly before reaching up to grab his head, his fingers poking into pressure points.

"Feel that, Slade?!" Robin asked. "That's my pain! That's Starfire's pain! That's my friends' pain!"

Robin poured it all into Slade's mind, his rage and hatred, the obsession that had ultimately cost him his life, Starfire's pain when he had shut her out to pursue him, when Slade had forced him to fight the Titans, when he had died to save her, his friends' grief at his death --- all of it filled Slade's mind.

"All our pain. All at once. All for you."

Slade finally couldn't take it anymore, and after the painful psychic transfusion, he collapsed.

"What did you do to him, Robin?" Starfire asked.

"I gave him my power," Robin replied.

"Your power?" Starfire wondered.

"Pain," Robin clarified. "Pain is my power."

Robin and Starfire rejoined Batman, the Teen Titans, and the Outsiders, who had made quick work of the androids during their fight with Slade.

"Is he . . ." Arsenal asked.

"Dead?" Robin finished. "He is."

"I saw Mammoth," Batman said. "Your handiwork?"

"Yeah," Robin replied.

"I understand why you had to do it, Robin," Batman said. "But you shouldn't."

"A lot of things should not be," Starfire said. "Robin should not be dead, for instance. He should not be trapped between this world and the afterlife, never able to find rest. As horrible as the vengeance that Robin visited upon Slade and his hirelings was, he did it to protect us. To ensure that Slade could never again harm another innocent soul."

Batman's expression was imperceptible as always, but a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "I see why he fell for you."

"You're not the only one," Arsenal added.

"Hey, she's only 17," Nightwing chided him.

"Save your womanizing for someone who's legal," Empress added.

"His mission has been fulfilled," Secret said. "He must depart now." As she said this, her insubstantial body formed a vortex.

Starfire hugged Robin tightly, tears in her eyes. "Must you go, Robin?"

Robin held her tightly, tears in his eyes as well. "I wish I didn't have to, Starfire. I would give anything to be with you." He paused. "But I can't."

Starfire looked up at him. "May I kiss you, one more time?"

Robin's reply was to kiss her, his hands entwining in her silken crimson locks. Starfire returned the kiss, her slim golden fingers in his jet-black hair.

Reluctantly, they parted. "I'll love you forever, Starfire."

"And I you, Robin," Starfire replied.

Robin let go of her and stepped through the portal, departing from the world of the living once again.

"Goodbye . . . Robin," Batman said. He was grateful for the mask he wore, for it concealed the tears in his eyes.

_One year later_

Starfire visited Robin's grave with new flowers. "Today is a joyous day, Tim. Since Slade's defeat, we have dismantled his criminal organization. I still miss you, but I am grateful for the fact that you returned to me, even if it was for a short time.

"You gave me hope, you gave me your heart and soul, and you gave me the strength to fight. For that, I will always be grateful to you.

"Today is my birthday, and I have turned 18 in your Earth years. We have stopped calling ourselves the Teen Titans and now simply call ourselves the Titans. I like our new name, for it symbolizes our growth." She laid the flowers down by his grave. "Goodbye, Tim. We shall speak again soon."

She flew away, back to Titans Tower. Meanwhile, on the other side of the sea that separated the island the tower stood on from the city its inhabitants protected, a shadowy figure with a crow on its shoulder watched her.

"Happy birthday, Koriand'r," he said. Then he turned away and walked into the shadows.

"I know it hurts, what you believe:

That everything is just as seems.

"The walls are cracked, the road is long

And I can't tell if their will is that strong.

"To force a change in the light to relieve you of strife

To force a change in the heart as it all comes crashing down.

"You never will see it

You will never know

You never will feel it

But where did you go?

"You never will see it

You will never know

You never will feel it

But where did you go?

"I see the fear inside their eyes

As they are falling, who will confide?

The ropes are broken, there's no net

And we are waiting for what's coming next

Will they land on their feet, will they simply give in

To the laws of the land, as it all comes crashing down?

"You never will see it

You will never know

You never will feel it

But where did you go?

"You never will see it

You will never know

You never will feel it

But where did you go?

"Open up your eyes

Open up your eyes

Open up your eyes

Open up your eyes.

"You know you'll always be drifting

You know you'll never be found

A servant, so empty, you'll never make a sound.

"You know you'll always be drifting

You know you'll never be found

A servant, so empty, you'll never make a sound, and . . .

"You never will see it

You will never know

You never will feel it

But where did you go?

"You never will see it

You will never know

You never will feel it

But where did you go?"

Switchblade Symphony – "Naked Birthday"

End Notes: Some of Slade's words can be interpreted in the light of Slade/Robin. I can't stop people from thinking that way since people have their own minds. As to why he kept referring to Starfire as "Robin's alien paramour," it's simple. The word paramour is akin in meaning to lover, but the connotations are more illicit. In the context of Slade/Robin/Starfire, it means that Slade believes that Robin belongs to him only and thus it makes him angry knowing that Robin gave himself to Starfire. Also, someone noted that Slade was immortal in the comics, so he shouldn't have died. I will address that in a later story.

That's the end for "The Crow: Black Robin." However, it may not quite be the end for Robin himself.


End file.
